I am running the Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon in May 2025 in memory of my dad, Rob Hardwick, and to raise money for the MND Association.

The MND association help those who have been diagnosed with MND have a better quality of life, in addition to investing in research to find a cure for this terminal illness.

As many know, my dad was sadly diagnosed in January 2020 with MND. Dad was an exceptionally head strong, independent man, so seeing his frustration grow when slowly becoming locked in his body, unable to move and talk was exceptionally heartbreaking.

At diagnosis, dad was offered to take part in MND-SMART in Edinburgh, a trial that would initially test medicines that are already approved as treatments for other disorders in the UK, to hopefully slow the progression or even cure the disease. Unfortunately, lockdown hit in March 2020, and therefore dad was unable to participate in the trial at that time.

Before dad inevitably lost his speech, we banked his voice using software that enabled dad to continue to use his voice by typing and playing what he wanted to say through an app on his phone. This helped dad communicate with us, and in the short term, improved his quality of life.

Unfortunately on 09th February 2021, my dad passed away from MND, just shy of 13 months after his diagnosis.

Both the MND-SMART trial that dad was offered and the voice banking software/app dad used to help improve his quality of life by enabling him to communicate, is only a fraction of what that the MND Association invests in to help those diagnosed with MND.

In memory of dad, I would like to not only help raise awareness for MND by running the Rob Burrows Leeds Marathon, but also raise money for a charity which is exceptionally close my family’s hearts. 💙🧡