I'm running the Sheffield Half Marathon with my sisters Katy and Corinna, our partners and some lovely friends in memory of our brother David, who passed away last September. 

If David was still with us he'd have been up there in the fast bit of the start line ready to give it all he'd got.

David was type 1 diabetic since he was 8 years old, and despite that he was an amazing athlete - cycling hundreds of miles and always trying to get us out on fell runs. 

At his funeral his cycling club gave my mum the most beautiful letter saying how he was always the one encouraging everyone on when the going got tough, how no hill was too much for him, and how much they will miss him. This was so inspirational, especially given how diabetes can be quite unpredictable. During a cycling race as a teenager David suffered a hypo (where his blood sugar went too low) and crashed into a wall, leading to a helicopter to hospital and a neck brace for six months! 

We only found out this week that David died from SADS (Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome). This is a lot to process and I don't know too much about SADS, but given that he passed away 13 days after our youngest brother James Bertie died in a motorbike crash, to say he died of a broken heart seems accurate. 

Although raising money for a SADS charity was a consideration, it's such recent news and we have so much learning to do - so decided to raise funds for Diabetes UK this time. Diabetes impacted David's life and was a constant consideration in everything he did - so it feels right to raise funds for this charity and help them help others living with it. Our grandma Brenda was also diabetic and tragically passed away in her fifties, before David was born.

Strava was the only social media platform David really used (and was so proud of his record on it) - it makes for impressive viewing:

https://www.strava.com/athletes/17420886

He was always trying to get everyone to sign up to do things like this with him, so he'd be delighted that we're running 13.1 miles up and down a massive hill! 

So on Sunday we're going to do David proud.