Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

In May of 2019 my partner Alison suffered a seizure and was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Thankfully the tumour turned out to be benign. She received world-class care at Queen Square, the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery. The operation to remove the tumour was a complete success and she is now well on the road to a complete recovery.

I have been running for twenty-five years, but I always said that I would never run a marathon (26.2 miles), as I did not want to commit to training that hard. However, now I feel a strong motivation: to raise money for The National Brain Appeal and to help Queen Square continue its fantastic work.

Queen Square is one of the world’s leading centres for the diagnosis, treatment and care of patients with neurological and neuromuscular conditions, including stroke, multiple sclerosis, brain cancer, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, and dementia. One in six of us are, or will be, affected by a neurological disorder, and Queen Square treats 186,000 people every year.

I will be sixty-seven years old when I make my third attempt at the London Marathon. The April 2020 race was postponed and eventually cancelled because of the pandemic. While out training in May 2020, I fell and broke my hip and had to have a total hip replacement. However, my wonderful physiotherapist David Wales helped me achieve a successful rehabilitation and I was on course to complete the marathon last October until a minor injury in the final week of my training forced me to withdraw just two days before the event. Undeterred, I began a 30-week training program in March and hope to get to the start line for this year's event. Realistically it will be a combination of running and walking (in a ratio of about 2:1), but I am absolutely determined to succeed. Your support will mean so much to me and help me to keep going.

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