Today marks 7 weeks until the New York Marathon, and my 50th birthday, eek!
After a little summer break from writing (not intentionally, but work and life got busy), I’m using today’s post to reflect on my upcoming marathon challenge and how I’m connecting it back to my why…
Earlier this year, I wrote a blog about approaching 50 and shared a little about my longer term goal(s) and my motivation. I talked about how Mum has dementia and how her father before her also had dementia. So… genetically I may be more predisposed to developing it too.
And the odds are also stacked against me as a woman when you read the following statistics about dementia:
- Around 2 in 3 people living with dementia are women – Alzheimer’s Society currently estimates that women make up about 65% of people living with dementia in the UK.
- Women are about twice as likely as men to have Alzheimer’s disease after 65.
- Women are affected not only as people living with dementia but as carers: women provide around 70% of the hours of informal care for people with dementia worldwide.
The research (mostly by Dr Lisa Mosconi) suggests the reason that women are more pre-disposed to dementia is not as people previously thought because they typically live longer. Mosconi says that dementia is not a disease of old age, that it begins in mid age – specifically around perimenopause due to the hormonal loss that happens at this stage of life.
And given this is my stage of life AND mum has dementia, this subject feels so poignant for me right now.
All that said – connecting back to my why… Running has been an important part of my life since I was young – since mum inspired me to run marathons when she herself ran the Edinburgh Marathon on her 40th birthday (haha here I am running along side her!).
Since then I have run 9 marathons and New York will be my 10th…
I’m not running for a PB, I’m running to enjoy it and to raise awareness and money for a cause which impacts so many women and families globally.
I am so grateful that I am able to run to raise awareness in this disease and to remind myself how important it is to stay as healthy and fit as possible…
A healthy lifestyle is one of the major preventative measures for keeping dementia at bay, and movement is one of the most powerful of those. So… I thought I’d use the fact that I’m running the New York Marathon to raise awareness in dementia by fundraising for Dementia UK.
With Dementia currently the seventh leading cause of death and one of the major causes of disability and dependency among older people globally, the funds raised by Dementia UK go to provide vital specialist dementia nursing services, so more families can access their life-changing support and live as well as possible, for as long as possible. Families of those supporting those living with the condition are often left feeling exhausted, overwhelmed and alone. And given women are disproportionately affected by dementia, both directly and indirectly as carers, this felt like a particularly pertinent charity for me to support.
So… if this resonates and you are able, I’d be very grateful if you could sponsor me here.
Thank you so very much in advance!
x
