Running the Brighton Marathon to raise money for the Alzheimer's Society

Call me crazy but I've signed up for the Brighton Marathon in 2019. What's not crazy is that I will be running for the Alzheimer's Society. This is a cause that is close to my heart as I have experienced it through family members and I know friends have come across this in their families too. My Babcia (Nan) and Grandma passed away with forms of dementia so I will be running in their memory. My Grandad, my last surviving grandparent also has it. Growing up I remember watching the London Marathon with my Grandad. We would watch the start before going to church and then would return to watch the finishers. So the marathon has special memories for me.

I did enter the ballot for the London Marathon, which is a kind of lottery but sadly I wasn't lucky this time. There's around 50,000 places available with over 400,000 entering so it was always going to be tough. I will enter again next year. I've got a lifetime ambition to complete.

This year in 2018, I ran two half marathons – I ran the Hackney Half and the Ealing Half. It will be quite a challenge to run 26.2 miles (42.2 km) in one race but it's a challenge I'm relishing and I'm counting down to Sunday 14 April 2019. The Brighton Marathon is considered one of the top marathons in the UK and will be taking place two weeks before the London Marathon.

I'm running about 3 times a week at the moment covering up to 12 miles in total. The real training will be starting in December. I've found a 16 week training plan which starts awkwardly on the 23^rd December. I will do my best to work around the Festive Period but it won't be easy. I'm going to Thailand on the 27^th December for a week…so I will probably need to run along the beach. It's a tough life.

Going back to the training plan, there's so many out there but I found that this one by BUPA fits in more with my life style. I've always found it difficult to train on Mondays and Fridays – it just feels wrong.

I have set myself a target to complete this marathon in less than 4 hours. So the challenge will not just be about completeness, I also want to achieve a good finishing time for my first marathon. Let's not forget, this marathon is not only about me, I will be raising money for the Alzheimer's Society. Donations can be made be here.