I’m going to run 5km + every day this year to raise money for Noah’s Ark children’s hospice who provide seriously ill children and their families with some joy.

In 2020 my partner Gem lost her sister Hollie to GBM, hopefully most won’t know what that is.

Glioblastoma is the most aggressive and deadly type of Brain cancer. Average life expectancy is 12-15 months.

Having seen it up close, the disease is savage, it’s vicious, cruel and unforgiving. There is zero light at the end of a dark and frightening tunnel.

Since then I’ve learned a bit about Brain Cancer. One stat that stood out was that only 1% of research funding is directed toward this type of cancer. The treatments haven’t changed in the last 30 years. The success rates are so low and funding goes elsewhere, where success rates are higher.

I’d set out to try and generate charitable donations to direct into research, but along the way I read a book by Rob Delaney about the loss of his 3 years old son Henry to brain cancer in 2018.

He talks about the unbelievably important work done by Children’s hospice charities who support kids who have serious / terminal illness allowing them to clawback some deserved joy against what is often a very, very bleak landscape.

Rob talked about the fact that the benefit derived from the work these charities do is immediately tangible via smiles and laughter from the children and their families.

I have 4 kids, it’s impossible not to think about how they (and I) would feel, faced with a terminal diagnosis. It’s heartbreaking, it will never be anything but that.

Amongst these broken hearts and broken lives, Childrens charities like this work to bring rays of light, the work they do very rarely results in a happy ending, yet they continue to do it.

To me it’s like getting invested in a story, buying completely into it, knowing the ending is likely one you don’t want to read - that will break your heart. This shows remarkable courage and dedication.

I'm keen to do my bit. If a kid and their family are afforded one flicker of light in the darkness or find some laughter between tears, then doing this will have been worthwhile.

The brain cancer journey is brutal, it’s relentless, exhausting and even the small, short-term wins are painful and fleeting.

My aim is to run a minimum of 5 kilometres every single day of 2024. That’ll see me run 1830 KM over the year. Approximately the same distance running from my home to Lisbon.

The rules I’ve set myself are simple – 5km everyday of the year. Recognising that I’m 47 and my body isn’t what it used to be I have to accept that I may pick up and injury, although I’m working hard to offset the chances of this happening.

If it does and I can’t run one day, I’ll promise I’ll always be in a position where across the time period I complete the cumulative KM, I’ve already banked an extra 20km or so, allowing a small tolerance just in case.

So far I’m 40 days in, so I have a long slog ahead. However If I can summon 1% of the courage and strength that Hollie, my partner and her family displayed during their battle, then I’ll succeed.

The mission is simple: -5KMADAY (to make the darkness momentarily go away)

Everything will be recorded on my Strava so give me a follow and some support ! Strava