Jacob Ward, 34, from York, will be one of the 50,000 people taking on the gruelling 26.2 miles, at this year’s London Marathon, on Sunday 23 April.
Jacob will be taking on the streets of London, all in support of Muscular Dystrophy UK. They are hoping to raise a fantastic £2023 for the charity, which will help fund research into treatments for rare, life-limiting muscle-wasting conditions and support the 110,000 children and adults across the UK affected by these conditions.
Jacob is taking on the huge challenge of the London Marathon because his brother, Guy, has one of these muscle-wasting conditions: Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Jacob and Guy both grew up in York and attended school here.
After a tough lockdown caring for his brother, Jacob has moved back to York, and is motivated to raise money to support research in finding attenuative medicines and cures for the condition so future generations can have an easier time with the condition.
Jacob said: “DMD is such a difficult condition to live with; for those with it and for the families supporting them. I have experienced this first hand with my family and my brother. We take on the challenges with determination and humour, but it is tough.
“As yet there are no cures or treatments, but the research is on a promising path. I believe, soon, it will start making a huge difference, they just need our help to maintain the funding.
“A friend of mine talked me into applying for a charity place for the London Marathon after she did the charity cycle ride around London.
“So many previous runners have told me what a great experience the London Marathon is. I have a group of friends coming to cheer me on… and possibly to carry me to the pub afterwards.
“I’m pushing on through as there is so little you can actually do to ‘win’ against muscle wasting conditions, it is mostly just dealing with problems as best you can – raising money to try at least make these conditions more manageable for future children and young adults feels like a win.”
This will be Jacob’s first marathon and he has been training for six months to achieve his goal.
To support Jacob you can head to their online fundraising page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/jacob-c-ward or link through his Instagram @jacobcmward.
More info »