Millicent Peggy Mallin was a mom to four children, grandmother to 11 and great grandmother to too many to count! She was an enormous influence in all our lives. After my granddad died, my nan came to live with us and being with her became the daily norm. Her warmth, wit, kindness and laughter filled our house. I can’t pinpoint the exact time when we realised that something wasn’t quite right with her. We put her memory loss and odd actions down to old age or just “one of those things” (after she died we read in her diaries that she had been worried about her memory for years but didn’t want to say anything). When we
found out it was Alzheimer's we were admittedly very naïve as she was the only person we knew who had it. Gradually we watched my nan disappear into a world of her own, losing herself, her dignity and living in fear as she was so confused. 

My nan died 12 years ago this May. As the years pass I picture her more as the wonderful person she was with big bushy hair, warm skin and always smelling of perfume, rather than the shell of the person she became. I still feel my nan’s presence with me and I know how much she would have loved my children. 

So why fundraise now? After my nan died, I wanted to do something in her name but I had no idea what. After never running in my life (I used to read a book on sports day!)  I started running last year at the age of 39. My first aim was to run in my local village fun run. I then went on to do a 10k run and I have just completed my second half marathon. I want to do something in my nans name and raise funds to help put an end to Alzheimer's, so no one has to go through what my nan did and no other family has to watch a loved one lose themselves in front of them.