I am running a 1/2 marathon on the 8th March, Battersea park, to support Barry raise money for Epilepsy Action in memory of his sister Abbie. He is running 27 half marathons, and lots of his friends and family are joining him for the last one! Here is his story:

“On Thursday 14th September 2023, my sister, Abbie, suffered an epileptic seizure, having only been formally diagnosed with the disease 6 weeks earlier. The seizure was so severe, it sent her in to cardiac arrest.

Although paramedics arrived promptly and despite the best efforts of the doctors, nurses and support staff over the next few days, the worst possible conclusion was reached on Sunday 17th September, when doctors informed us that Abbie could not be saved - she passed away that evening, 3 months before her 30th birthday.

The current statistics for the UK show that on average, 3 people die from epilepsy per day, and a much larger number suffer the effects and live with the disease every day - some 600,000.

Speaking personally, losing my sister has been the worst experience of my life and every day since has been emotionally painful - so why not add a little physical pain to that, in honour of Abbie, so that she wasn’t just “one of the three” on the 17th September? I want her passing to mean something; to help make a difference, not only by raising money to go towards research, but also to raise awareness of how serious this illness is.

I am aiming to run 27 half marathons, one for every minute that Abbie was without oxygen to her brain, whilst the paramedics tried to revive her.

The majority of these runs will be at organised events around London, the first of which will be on Sunday 14th April at Crystal Palace, but some will be solo runs in various settings.”

Event Schedule:

Sunday 14th April - Crystal Palace ✅

Saturday 20th April - London Bridges (Solo Run) ✅

Saturday 11th May - Battersea Park ✅

Sunday 19th May - Wimbledon Common ✅

Saturday 25th May - The Fox Trail ✅

Sunday 2nd June - Richmond Park ✅

Tuesday 4th June - Nonsuch (Solo Run) ✅

Friday 6th September - Hove to Ferring Beach (solo run) ✅

Saturday 14th September - Undisclosed Location (solo run) ✅

Sunday 6th October - Victoria Park ❌ due to illness, unable to make this one 😢

Saturday 12th October - Lee Valley Velo Park ✅

Thursday 17th October - The Unnamed One (Solo) ✅

Sunday 20th October - Battersea Park ✅

Wednesday 23rd October - Battersea Park (The Re-Run) ✅

Saturday 26th October - Carsington Water ✅

Tuesday 29th October - The Nonsuch Strip ✅

🗓️ 11 To Be Scheduled before March!

Saturday 8th March - Battersea Park (THE FINAL - with lots of extra runners!)

If you could spare a couple of quid to sponsor me to raise money for this cause I would greatly appreciate it. I will update this page with further dates in due course (in case anyone wishes to spectate or even participate), along with the results of each one. xxx

link: Barry’s original just giving page