I ran the Royal Parks Marathon for the first time last year, and it was one of the best days I can remember.  I signed up at the start of 2012 so that I had a goal to work towards, however halfway through the year my grandmother was diagnosed with vascular dementia and I decided to raise money for a charity helping those suffering with the same illness.

This can be a very difficult illness to cope with, both for the person themselves and their families, which is why I want to support a charity helping those with Alzheimer's and Dementia as much as possible.  Much more needs to be done to educate people about the early signs of these illnesses, so that more can be done early on to diagnose them and arrange treatment and support. 

My grandmother passed away just a couple of days before I ended up running the half marathon last year which meant that both raising money, and the event in itself, are both quite personal causes now. 

Lots of people were very generous last year, and so any donations this year would be hugely appreciated.  Last year I focused on getting around the 13 miles (and I don't talk too much about how long it took me...) but this year I promise to try and speed up!  Sadly now I have a benchmark to try and beat.

Thanks again for even the smallest donations xxx