Katherine Hesketh

Katherine runs her first marathon

Fundraising for Motor Neurone Disease Association
£1,220
raised of £450 target
Donations cannot currently be made to this page
Event: Brighton Marathon 2021, on 12 September 2021
In memory of John Hesketh
We fund care, campaigning and research to achieve a world free from MND

Story

Motor Neurone Disease is a cruel, rapidly progressing and ultimately fatal disease. Difficult to diagnose, it affects the brain and spinal cord, and quickly limits a person's movement, speech, muscles and breathing. There is currently no cure. 

My Father in Law, John, sadly died from MND in January 2014. He was only 66. MND took away a kind and funny Dad, Husband and Grandad at the point in his life when he should have been enjoying retirement, and spending time with his Grandsons. Sadly he only got to meet Oliver - Henry was born 6 months after he died. 

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JANUARY 2022 UPDATE

Marathon training is back! I’m hoping that Sunday 10th April 2022 will be when I finally get to run my first marathon. I don’t want to tempt fate. The world is still hugely unpredictable. But for now, I’m going to get my head down and focus on the preparation because that’s the one thing that I can control!


MAY 2020 UPDATE
Between 1st January and 25th March, I completed 61 training runs, covering a total distance of 681km (423 miles), which took up 62 hours of my time. But of course as we all know, in March 2020 coronavirus turned the world upside down! And, along with all other marathons and races, Brighton marathon got postponed. As frustrating as this was, the news was expected and totally justified. I took the decision to not accept the rescheduled date of September 2020, but to instead run the race in April 2021 when there's hopefully a higher chance of the world being more normal again. 

I'm incredibly grateful to all those that so generously donated, in spite of the race not taking place. I promise that I will make that start line!  My running has taken a bit of a backseat while priorities lie elsewhere, but I'm determined to throw myself into training with the same passion as before. Watch this space!!

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My running story
I've been a keen runner for nearly 7 years and while I've run a few half marathons, I've always had a (healthy and rational!) fear of the full marathon distance. 

Turning 40 kick-started some serious thoughts about giving the marathon distance a go. But if that wasn't a big enough challenge, I also decided to set myself the target of finishing in under 4 hours...

The pandemic scuppered my original plans to run Brighton Marathon in 2020 but I am hoping that 2022 will be my year. Like before, I'm taking the training seriously because there's no other way to approach this kind of target. And I'm under no illusions that it's going to be tough, but I also know how lucky I am to even be able to run. And knowing that I can raise money and awareness for MND in the process will keep me inspired and motivated.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page and for helping support the Motor Neurone Disease Association.

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About the charity

The MND Association focuses on improving access to care, research and campaigning for those living with or affected by MND in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. If you or a loved one need practical or emotional support, call our Connect Helpline on 0808 802 6262, Mon to Fri between 9am and 4pm.

Donation summary

Total raised
£1,220.00
+ £185.75 Gift Aid
Online donations
£1,200.00
Offline donations
£20.00

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