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Andrew Rowe

Hackney Half Marathon 2026

Help me reach my goal of £400

My activity tracking

186
miles

My target 13 miles

Here we go again!

My legs still aching and my knee still bandaged from the 2025 half marathon, a couple of days ago, it's time to fill the void it leaves behind. Last year, I ran for Alzheimer's, this year for fun - there are only so many times you can hit people for money. But I did feel something missing this year as I bounded (or dragged myself) the 21.1km to the finish line. Hundreds of runners are running for charity, and the charites make such an effort at the event, with roadside bands putting a spring in your step and supporters cheering you on.

About five years ago, my mum, June Rowe, mysteriously lost her sense of smell, which doctors put down to the stress of losing her mother that year. Later, she noticed her hand writing getting smaller, until it was almost as small as mine, we all joked. We didn't think much of it until in 2022, my sister Liz visited from Canada, and saw a difference.

Parkinson's creeps up on you. In the short term, it's not a killer like cancer; nor as brutally cruel as dementia. But gradually, it changes you, it slows you down. Furiously energetic, and a famously fast walker, Mum probably needed slowing down a bit! She's 'lucky' to have it only late in life. Those with early onset are dealt a much worse hand.

And yet - the medication works well. Once diagnosed, and a course of medicine determined, normal-like life resumed, independence partly restored, motion accelerated. Parkinson's is a disease that responds to treatment and seems to be headed towards a cure, which is why its funding is so worthwhile. At the moment, it can be kept at bay; in the future...?

Please help by sponsoring my half marathon. All money raised will help fund breakthroughs and help support the Parkinson's community. Like thousands of people, my mum benefits from weekly local group meetings hosted by Parkinson's UK. I support them through monthly donations. We know first hand that it is a charity that is making a difference, and working hard to make lives more liveable.

Thank you for listening!

Andrew

Please help me
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Raised

£430 + £68.69 GiftAid

My Goal

£400

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My updates

Week 18: And... r e l a x

Tuesday 5th May
I've hit my fundraising target, and the longest training week is out of the way - 32km over seven days, including a single run of over 19km. What a relief. I'm over the crest of the hill and, thankfully with no niggly injuries, I can enjoy the jog down towards race day on the 17th. 

I've been slow compared to past years, but there's time to pick up the pace now, and it's looking like I'll be helped by coolish weather (or at least not brutally hot like 2024). I'll be very happy if I can beat 1 hour 45 minutes, a little faster than last year. That's an average pace of 5 minutes per kilometre, which sounds horrible (to me) for a full 21km, but I know this pace well from 10km runs, and the Hackney Half crowds have their effect. All that's missing now is my Parkinson's UK race top...

Week 17: And now the hard work...

Monday 27th Apr
Back from North Africa, back to two working ears, and back in my trainers. The first week was an unpleasant surprise, discovering just how much stuffing I'd had knocked out of me by the op. Urgh - the realization that this isn't going to be easy. It wasn't easy last year or the year before either, but I now have some catching up to do, and less than three weeks left to do it in.

A total of 26km last week, all of them gruelling; 28km this week, better but slow. But the sun is shining, the marshes have exploded into life, and I'm - so far - uninjured. I'll need to speed up in the next fortnight, as well as stretching the distance. 19km this Friday...

Week 11: A surgical interlude

Monday 16th Mar
I knew it was coming (as I was on a waiting list), but along came my ear surgery causing a postponement to any running activity for at least six weeks, including two in Egypt if the Foreign Office continues to give it the thumbs up after the outbreak of war in Iran. Anticipating the operation (the delightfully named 'mastoid obliteration'), I upped the mileage and put in two 17km (10.6 mile) runs as Winter turned to Spring and the crocuses appeared.

A little rest is no bad thing. After Egypt, there'll be five weeks to get back on track and add those final 5km. In the mean time, here is just some of the work currently being funded by Parkinson's UK, as the leading European funder of Parkinson’s research:

https://www.parkinsons.org.uk/news/2026/were-funding-3-new-projects-exploring-ways-slowing-down-parkinsons

Week 6: Queen Elizabeth Park 10K & the second 15

Thursday 19th Feb
I'm averaging 21km per week now (over the past five weeks), which sounds a lot to me, but is a mix of short jogs (5km), intervals (alternating fast and slow bursts), and then one longer run each week. A half marathon is 21km, so the goal is to do my current weekly total in a single run.

I do like the 10km (6 mile) distance. It takes me about 3km to warm up, so shorter distances are uncomfortable for a disproportionately long time; with 10km I can relax and enjoy the last two thirds of it. Meanwhile, longer runs can take  a g e s, and cause more wear and tear.

So, I finished off week 5 with a competitive 10km event in Queen Elizabeth Park (not as fast as I'd have liked considering it's reasonably flat), and then this week I went for another 15km run up the canal to Tottenham Marshes and back (just shy of 10 miles). That takes an hour and a half, so plenty of time to contemplate existence and watch the coots. My knee did feel a bit dicey for a couple of days before, so I was in two minds about going ahead. Nevertheless, things felt fine, and I've a week off in Coventry coming up, so I get to rest my weary legs.

Week 3: The first 15

Monday 26th Jan
In my previous two half-marathons, I built up slowly, adding a km or so every couple of weeks. I've decided to take the plunge and go early this time, with a jump up to 15km (9.3 miles). I have a minor ear operation, and a fortnight away at Easter, so there will be setbacks coming my way and I'd rather get a few good long runs under my belt before that happens, rather than having all the pressure in the final weeks.

So off up the River Lea I went towards Tottenham Marshes, about 7km away. This is a familiar route now, from past years, and the run - past Egyptian geese and cormorants and horses - always feels like a trip to the countryside. Lee Valley Park is London's biggest, stretching 26 miles up the river into Hertfordshire, so I need never cross a road or see a car. The return route passes through the reservoirs of Walthamstow Wetlands - just still, reflective water and birds.

It was a damp, cold morning, and took 90 mins of running at an easy pace, fuelled with a boiled potato around an hour in. Plain sailing, so far. Experience tells me that won't last!

Week 2: Finsbury Park 10K

Tuesday 20th Jan
Just getting to Finsbury Park on a misty Sunday morning is heroic - a pleasant zip along the River Lea for a couple of miles, and then the ascent of Stamford Hill through Springfield Park, which has me off the bike for the steepest section, before the slog down Seven Sisters Road. (I'm no cyclist).

These 10k events, hosted by RunThrough, are somewhere between Parkruns and the Hackney Half. Finsbury Park is a small one, with just 584 runners this morning, but the theme is definitely hills, with four laps of a considerably steep one - a challenge to start to the year. It takes me 49 minutes, which is decent enough factoring in the hill, and I'm 5th of 18 in my age category (the wrong end of 45-49!).

Week 1: Happy New Year

Friday 9th Jan
Happily, I begin my quest with solid foundations. This will be my third half marathon (13.1 miles) in three years, and I'm very used to 10km (6 mile) events, which I do in London about once a month, give or take. It's odd to start January, post-Christmas, in good shape, but I spent Autumn trying to get below 45 minutes for 10,000m, alongside a course of physiotherapy to sort out my dodgy left knee, so after three weeks off (three weeks of wine, vodka, Polish food and a little beginner's skiing), I'm raring to go. 22km this week - 5km on Monday, some sprint-walk-sprint intervals on Wednesday, and a very soggy 10km this morning.

Running in this weather always feels heroic. Next week, Finsbury Park 10K - a competitive event, with hills!

Thank you to my sponsors

£11.33

Becky Jackson

£16.56

Pepi V

Good luck Andrew!

£21.84

Michael Slater

Well done Andrew keep up the good work

£21.84

Sarah Lm Heights

Good luck!

£21.84

Bella & Sandra

Good luck Andrew. You’ve got this 👍🏻

£10

Justine Cannings

See you there! 😉

£10

Eugenia

Enjoy the run!

£11.33

Emma Smith

Good luck & enjoy! 🏃

£21.84

Ingrid Nicholls

Good luck Andrew!

£50

Ariadne, Aaron, Cléa And Eli

Let’s go!

£53.32

Robert Edward Hall

Best wishes

£20

Jeanette & Len

£20

Serena Calder

£20

June Rowe

£20

Jeffrey Rowe

£100

Agnieszka

Amazing that you’re running for charity. Cheering you on and wishing you the best of luck!