HEY,

As much as I love my snowboarding, wakeboarding and horse riding, I felt like I needed a new challenge, so I entered the ballot for the London marathon in April 2018.

I am by no means a natural runner and do not run for fun. I thought running the London Marathon would be a real challenge. I wasn’t however holding much hope for getting in, simply because thousands of people enter every year and are unsuccessful!

Six months later, I had totally forgotten about that mad moment of entering the London Marathon, whilst drinking a glass of wine. In October 2018 a large envelope came through the door with my acceptance letter. My initial reaction was wow, I am so lucky and cannot believe I have received a
place in the London Marathon ballot - I was elated and so excited about the challenge!!! So as everyone does I updated my social media, to let everyone know how excited I was…

… BOOM!! Then reality hit 10 minutes later, I thought $H*T, what have I done!?! How am I going to run 26.2 miles? How the hell am I going
to run non-stop for 4-5 hours? The panic set in!! Anyone who knows me, knows that I would rather be strapped to the top of a plane than run for 4-5 hours.

So, guys on 28th April 2019, I, Andrea Innes will be taking on the challenge of running 26.2 miles to complete the London marathon.

I was extremely lucky to receive my ballot position, but I could not overlook the opportunity to raise money and support a charity very
close to my heart - PSPA. So what is PSP? Progressive Supranuclear Palsy – This
is a neurological condition caused by premature loss of nerve cells in certain parts of the Brain. This is a very rare condition and there are only 4000 people living with PSP in the UK. In our experience 4000 too many!! There are no simple tests or brain scans to identify PSP and the condition is only detected over time (usually 2 years into the condition, after eliminating more
common conditions), with the initial symptoms often being perceived to be depression. As this horrible condition takes hold of the person it begins to progressively affect their balance, movement, vision, speech and swallowing…

So, you ask, why is this so close to my/our heart??

My dear lovely, funny, and mischievous mother-in-law Bezza (Beryl) was sadly diagnosed with PSP in 2017. The diagnosis came 2 years after
Bezza began to show early symptoms of PSP: Apathy, Visual impairment, falls… all horrible to see. We had never heard of the condition and being rare, many of the health professionals visited in the early stages hadn’t either. Knowing so little about such a condition meant they were unable to prepare us for what was to come. We took advice from PSPA (PSP Association), and a friend (whose mum also suffers from this condition).

Over the next two years we watched our dear Bezza lose her ability to eat, see, be mobile and eventually lose her speech. We all watched
on totally helpless. Sadly, Bezza lost her battle with PSP in November 2018.

Our Bezza showed incredible strength through her illness, she never complained once, and with all that PSP took from her, she never let
it take her sense of humour; keeping us all laughing with her mischievousness right to the end. We all miss her terribly every day, but always remember her with a smile!

Please, please, please, help me raise some money towards PSPA (PSPA is a registered charity in England and Wales (1037087) and in Scotland (SC041199)) to help with research into the condition and help them to assist families like us. Although this is a rare condition, everyday it is
becoming more and more recognized.

PSPA is a national charity providing support and information to people living with PSP and CBD, while funding research into treatments and ultimately a cure. We aim to improve the lives of everyone affected by PSP and CBD. We rely entirely on voluntary donations, and that's why we need your support.