Thanks very much to everyone who sponsored me.  I had an amazing day.  The sun shone, my training paid off and I had such an enjoyable race.  Supporters lined the route every inch of the way and the 50,000 participants were running in the vests of every charity under the sun.  For me crossing the start and finish was accompanied by a swoosh from the famous Red Arrows, which was just the icing on the cake.  Thank you for your support of me and of the PDS and thank you to the PDS for giving me the opportunity to take part in the race of a lifetime.

Read how I came to do the race below. 

Nearly 3 years ago I went to watch my brother in law and nephew take part in the Great North Run.  The atmosphere was awesome.  That year I had also watched the Race for Life in Preston and was moved by the occasion.  When congratuating Mark on completing the GNR I commented that I'd love to do something like that but I just couldn't run.  Mark suggested that if I could run a few yards all I had to do was build up from there.  So I started to train and six months later did the Race for Life.  High on my success I joined up with friends at work who had formed the 'Advancement Running Club' and the rest - as they say - is history.  I had become a runner.

Most will know that my better half Paul found out around the same time as Mark's GNR that he has Parkinson's Disease.  Since then I have raised  some money for Parkinson's charities. So when the Parkinson's Disease Society contacted me in the spring and offered me one of their  places in the run I knew it was meant to be!

I won't pretend this isn't very much about running and acheiving a personal ambition - it is, but to raise money for the PDS is also so important.  I've met several people with Parkinson's since Paul was diagnosed - ordinary people like you and me that are just so unlucky to have the condition.  One of the worst things with a progressive disease is that how it will affect you in the future and how long will you be in reasonable health is always there in the background.

It's not known exactly what causes Parkinson's and the disease is different in different people and there may be more than one cause and more than one 'disease', grouped together as Parkinson's, but the good thing is that the research is at such a stage that breakthroughs are in signt so it's so important that the funding can keep up the momentum of the research.

Any amount you can give will be great.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.

Lots of Love

Pam x