"Founded in 2005 by four people living with the condition, the Cure Parkinson's Trust (CPT) takes a patient-centric approach to funding innovative projects and inspirational scientists, working to modify the progression of Parkinson’s and to find a cure. At CPT we believe that we are closer than ever to delivering treatments that for the first time will slow, stop or even reverse the progression of the disease. Your donation will help us get there." 

My dad has had a diagnosis of early onset Parkinson's disease for 11 years, but it wasn't until he attended a talk 5 years ago by Tom Isaccs from Cure Parkinson's Trust that he felt any sense of positivity or hope about how to manage it. Following the talk he spoke to Professor Roger Barker and got himself onto their 'transneuro' trial as a participant, where he continues to be part of the control group. 

Dad impressively managed to continue working, sailing (of course - for anyone who knows him), trekking and just continuing life with relatively minimal impact from the disease for several years. But over the last two years there have definitely been more challenges which we are continuing to learn to navigate. This has re-emphasised to us the importance of the work by Cure Parkinson's Trust in fighting the disease. 

The original plan had been to run 'The Fox' marathon in April 2020 - a trail marathon following The Fox Way, near Guildford. Of course, COVID-19 put that on pause. They rescheduled to September 2020 but my grit did not. But third time lucky and I'm set to go the distance this April. The competition is still open and I've signed up but we'll see if it gets the go ahead... Either way, I will be covering 26.2 miles on 24th April  2021!

Want to find out more about The Fox?

https://www.surreyhills.org/events/the-fox-2020-ultra-distance-marathon-trail-run-2/