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David Kelly

Brighton Marathon 2026

Help me reach my goal of £5,000

My activity tracking

174
miles

My target 26 miles

Parkinson's UK

Thank you for visiting my fundraising page for the Brighton Marathon 2026 for Parkinson's UK! I'll be running the Brighton Marathon in April 2026 as part of Team Parkinson's to help us all reach a future without Parkinson's.

Please help me by sponsoring whatever you can towards my target. All money raised will go directly to funding Parkinson's UK.

About Parkinson's UK

We’re close to major breakthroughs. Funding the right research into the most promising treatments, we get closer to a cure every day.

Until then, we're here for everyone affected by Parkinson’s. Fighting for fair treatment and better services. 

People with Parkinson’s, scientists and supporters, fundraisers and families, carers and clinicians, all working side by side. Impatient for change, we’re taking a stand, speaking out, chipping in, and playing our part.

Please help me
reach my goal

Raised

£5,127 + £1,222.89 GiftAid

My Goal

£5,000

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My updates

Last orders!

Friday 10th Apr
Good afternoon FB friends,
Thank you to the 70+ very generous people who gave so far donated £4928 to Parkinson’s UK in response to my begging letters. It is huge amount and according to their literature £5000 is enough to fund a Parkinson’s nurse for 250 hours or a nurse-led community clinic for 66 x half days.
This is a fantastic contribution, thank you.

I have always been a bit of a nerd when it comes to numbers and just wonder if one or two people who have thought of donating and not done so would like to make up the last £72 to make it a round £5k (or even more!)

Thanks for all your support, I am now coping with a back injury which may prevent me from finishing on Sunday but I will definitely start and keep going until I cannot continue, hopefully for the full 26.2 miles.

Best wishes to all,

DK

Happy Easter & Passover

Sunday 5th Apr
Hi All,
Thanks for all the donations and support, it means a lot!!
Last Monday 31/3 I injured my back throwing logs about. On Tuesday I could not cough and running was out of the question. By Thursday I managed 200 yards before I had to stop. Today I ran 2 miles slowly and found that by controlling my gait I could keep the pain bearable.
So! I will definitely start the Brighton Marathon next week and do my best to finish but it will be slow. I would rather be anon finisher than a non starter!
If I am a DNF then I will run in the next available marathon once better in order to honour the support which you have given.
Happy Easter, (or Passover)
David 🙂

New shoes & new injury

Tuesday 31st Mar

I bought my first pair of running shoes in 1966, made by Norman Walsh, a shoemaker in Bolton who saw a niche market in cross country running shoes. The pair that I bought (with my parents money) were made of kangaroo leather and had “ripple soles” (very in vogue with XC runners in the 60s)) cut by Norman to a pattern made by drawing around your feet on two pieces of Foolscap paper. (A4 paper did not exist in UK then.) They cost £3.00 which was a lot of money then and they were treasured.


For this marathon I have faffed about and so far bought 4 pairs of new shoes. I returned one pair because I didn’t like the feel and one pair because they fell apart after 25 miles! The third pair are good but too heavy for a marathon. The fourth pair are perfect. At last I found my perfect marathon shoes, ASICS Superblast 3.

They are as near perfect as I am going to find! The day that I decided to try them out, however, I had a tree surgeon round to cut down a dying tree and managed to injure my back heaving logs around. That was yesterday. I went for a 3 mile run afterwards to try out my shoes and ended up pretty much walking the last half mile. Today the pain is somewhat better thanks to lots of ibuprofen and paracetamol and I am about to take a long sauna, as the Scandinavians believe that a long hot sauna is a cure for practically everything. With 12 days to go I’m not too fussed as I’m sure that on April 12, if nothing else, I could probably walk 26.2 miles!

Thanks to everyone who has donated to Parkinson’s UK on my behalf, the total so far is just over £5000 plus gift aid.

New shoes plus new injury! 🙁 Dohh!

Tuesday 31st Mar

I bought my first pair of running shoes in 1966, made by Norman Walsh, a shoemaker in Bolton who saw a niche market in cross country running shoes. The pair that I bought (with my parents money) were made of kangaroo leather and had “ripple soles” (very in vogue with XC runners in the 60s)) cut by Norman to a pattern made by drawing around your feet on two pieces of Foolscap paper. (A4 paper did not exist in UK then.) They cost £3.00 which was a lot of money then and they were treasured.


For this marathon I have faffed about and so far bought 4 pairs of new shoes. I returned one pair because I didn’t like the feel and one pair because they fell apart after 25 miles! The third pair are good but too heavy for a marathon. The fourth pair are perfect. At last I found my perfect marathon shoes, ASICS Superblast 3.

They are as near perfect as I am going to find! The day that I decided to try them out, however, I had a tree surgeon round to cut down a dying tree and managed to injure my back heaving logs around. That was yesterday. I went for a 3 mile run afterwards to try out my shoes and ended up pretty much walking the last half mile. Today the pain is somewhat better thanks to lots of ibuprofen and paracetamol and I am about to take a long sauna, as the Scandinavians believe that a long hot sauna is a cure for practically everything. With 12 days to go I’m not too fussed as I’m sure that on April 12, if nothing else, I could probably walk 26.2 miles!

Thanks to everyone who has donated to Parkinson’s UK on my behalf, the total so far is just over £5000 plus gift aid.

Yet another rest day!

Wednesday 25th Mar
Today is another rest day according to my marathon training plan, if I had realised that training plans included so many rest days I might have taken them up earlier in my running career!
Not wanting to forget what the rest day was about I decided I would use it to take Maisie on a walk to the post office which was done in order to return my race shoes to their supplier. Thereby hangs a tail! (excuse the pun).
In an attempt to manage a reasonable time in the upcoming marathon, I decided that I would invest in modern lightweight race shoes, so I bought a pair of Nike Zoom X  Vaporfly. They look great, are extremely light, and bearing in mind that they are built for speed not comfort they were a comfortable fit. Last week I took them out for the first time on the road and did 25 mile mixed pace runs. All went well, the shoes were reasonably comfortable bearing in mind that weight had been traded for cushioning. After a successful first two runs in them, I decided to take them for a long run on Sunday when I was planning a 20 mile run to Goldhanger.
All went well until the 15th mile went part of the heel  came apart from the sole! I had understood that ratios are not designed for longevity and had been told that one could only expect between 250 and 500 miles out of them. However, I was slightly stunned by the knowledge that had I warn them for the first time in the race then they would have fallen apart with 1.2 miles left to go!
The retailer has been helpful and hence I posted them back today for a refund and have now bought something more substantial for April 12.
So Maisie got a 2 1/2 mile run on a Lead while I cycled followed by a trip back in the front bag on my Brompton as inclement weather and a bit more traffic made this a better option.
Maisie is actually in moderately bad books at the moment as she has killed and eaten to very lovely cock pheasants who had taken up residence in our garden for the last month. She is now looking mostly fat and feeling a bit sorry for herself but is not receiving an awful lot of sympathy.
Thanks to all of you who have donated so generously. I am now way past the expected fundraising that I will carry on as it is such a great cause.
Hope everyone is well, keep cheerful, keep optimistic, never give up never give in and if you ain’t scared you ain’t right!

Last 20 mile long training run

Sunday 22nd Mar
Well, that was the last long run before the Brighton marathon on April 12. A bit of a favourite run as it’s a one-way from home to one of Essex’s best pubs, the Chequers at Goldhanger on the Blackwater Estuary.

Ruth drove to pick me up with the dog, rehydrated with beer which is not recommended followed by steak and kidney suet pudding probably also not on the recommended list but good for the soul!

Fundraising is going spectacularly well thanks to all of you very generous donors. All I have to do now is finish the run on the day.

Thank you so much to everyone who has sent good wishes and also money for Parkinson’s UK, the former is what motivates me on the day the latter is what makes me feel like I want to get out there and train.

It’s been good talking to people in conversations generated by the fundraising, however should you want to continue to chat  I am always available on my phone (07904) 041274,  WhatsApp or email Kelly16@icloud.com
I’m thinking of joining the  LDWA, Long Distance Walkers Association, and if anyone is already a member and has useful advice, I would be grateful to hear from you. Stay well, stay happy and spread the word to anyone else who you think might like to donate to Parkinson’s UK.
BW
DK.

A fantastic day for a run!

Wednesday 18th Mar

Over the four decades that I have been running marathons I have until now never followed a training plan, choosing instead to just make it up as I go along. As I have decided to run at Brighton somewhat late, I decided that maybe I should give a training plan a go. With that in mind I downloaded the official Brighton marathon training plan for beginners and have stuck it on the fridge. So far so good. I have joined at week 13 and today’s run is a 10 minute slow jog, a 10 minute steady run, 10 minutes at Marathon pace, 10 minutes at a “tempo” pace and 10 minutes slow run home. The weather was stunning the countryside was looking beautiful but quite frankly it was painful! By the end of the run I was thinking about an article that I read in The Times, having had it pointed out to me by my wife and a also by good friend and colleague who emailed me this morning. The article refers to some research which recommends training for a marathon by taking 40 minute hot baths five times a week. That sounds like my kind of training! I think that however attractive it is, that a bit of running is also required!


The things that are inspiring me at the moment are firstly the weather which is improving rapidly, the countryside which is bursting into Spring, and mostly the generosity of my friends, ex colleagues, family, running friends and occasionally even strangers who have donated generously to Parkinson’s UK on my behalf. Thank you to all of you, I am truly humbled by your actions. Over the last four decades I have run in a lot of marathons the first one being Humber Bridge in 1987 and the last one in Boston MA During that time I have raised funds for a number of charities including The Cystic Fibrosis trust, Farleigh Hospice, North London hospice, RNIB, RNID, SSAFA, the Samaritans and I am sure a number of others which have slipped my memory (no jokes about raising funds for the Alzheimer’s Society please!) The charities have always been supportive and extremely grateful and the donors unbelievably generous despite being approached many times over the last 30 to 40 years, thank you to all of you it has been a joy.

It has also been a joy to receive your messages of support. These have been amusing, occasionally insulting (in a funny way🤣,) witty, helpful and sometimes informative. Many people have enquired about the condition of my joints and I am pleased to say that my knees and hips are holding up though I have a 50% tear of my tibialis anterior tendon which the surgeon tells me has a 5% chance of complete rupture before I die. This, I think, says more about his estimate of my longevity than the strength of my tendon.


It has been a lot of fun training, running and fundraising mainly because of you! So thank you and please carry on giving. If you carry on giving then I’m afraid that I will carry on asking but feel free to tell me to stop asking if you have had enough.


Life is short, we are surrounded by beauty and love and fantastic people, treat every day as if it might be your last, one day it will be. In the meantime enjoy life, be kind to people and animals and have fun!


Thanks for everything. DK ❤️

Getting there slowly!

Friday 13th Mar
I decided on Wednesday that I was really being a bit lazy. I needed to put in a medium distance, medium pace, slightly hilly run.. Took myself off to little Baddow and set off on the flat knowing that the first 3 miles was going to be flat or downhill and hence a good way to warm up. I have to say that I felt pretty tired at the start but once I was warmed up, it was a sunny afternoon and very pleasant countryside.
8 miles 600 Feet of ascent and all done averaging 10 minute mile pace.
Not spectacular, but adequate, I now need to sort myself out and do some speed sessions another double figures run.
Had an amazing donation of £2000 today from a single anonymous donor which has more than doubled my donation so so far! Thank you so much to that anonymous donor you are astonishingly generous!
That’s it for now, back to babysitting my grandson which is almost as exhausting as running!
Over and out DK 🙂

Training Day 3

Monday 9th Mar
A gentle hilly 8 miler today, nothing too stressful.
I thought of taking Maisie ( see Pics in “Gallery”) with me but she wasn’t keen and has been known to sit down in the middle of the road and refuse to move.

Quite honestly Maisie is a sprinter not a long distance runner plus she has to stop and check out the olfactory landscape every 40 yards or so and add her own signature. Chasing a hare, muntjac or pheasant however brings out her athleticism and, she thinks, deserves admiration, praise and a biscuit. 

None of which is helpful to my training, so she stayed home and slept in her basket.

Hopefully she will be allowed to meet me at the end of the race on 12th April and collect her reward for all of her moral support.

Long slow run

Saturday 7th Mar
I really did not feel like going on a long run today but with only five weeks before the marathon I thought I had to.

I could not find an attractive loop run, but decided that a one-way run would be OK. With that in mind I persuaded my very lovely wife to drive out and pick me up from the end, omitting to tell her that it was at a historic pub (Chequers at Goldhanger) on the Blackwater estuary which boasts Bar Billiards and good beer!
She agreed to do this? Met me at the end with our lovely dog, Maisie, and then proceeded to thrash me at Bar Billiards 2-0 …..there will be a return match!
Today’s weather was cool and cloudy in Essex but the views across the water filled with waterfowl and waders made it all worthwhile. A slow time partly because I started with a 30 minute phone call with my eldest child, stopped to talk to the lady who runs the tea rooms in Terling our nearby village but mostly it was a slow run because I’m very slow!

Thank you to everyone who has generously donated so far, I am completely blown away, some of them I barely know! Those of you who have not donated please feel free to give as much sure as little as you think appropriate every little helps.
Have a great Saturday evening,
Best wishes
DK

Rest Day!

Friday 6th Mar
I probably don’t deserve a rest day yet as I’ve hardly started! Today I was babysitting for my toddler grandson which meant getting up at 4.30 in order to avoid the rush hour traffic into London. That meant that Iarrived an hour early so snoozed in the back of my VW camper. I could have set off later but would have spent a lot more time awake and driving.
Now I am feel in that tomorrow’s long run may be a bit tough.
Thanks to everyone who has generously donated so far, and also the 60 or so others who have looked at my fundraising page.
In these dark days of war in the Middle East I am drawn more than ever to my thoughts on “Observant Optimism”
It would be easy to think that the world is in a hopeless state and that it is full of suffering and misery caused by evil people. We are however surrounded by good people who care for each other and do acts of great kindness and love. Your response to this request for funds for Parkinson’s UK only serves to convince me of this. Thanks,

A great run by the Cam

Thursday 5th Mar
A great day to kickstart my training for Brighton. Massively motivated by the huge generosity of all my donors. Just under £500 (inc Giftaid) in 24 hours! You guys are amazing, thank you.
I need to do a few speed sessions this week and a long (20 miles) next weekend. If the weather stays good then it’s a bit of a dream!
🙂

Late starter!

Wednesday 4th Mar
Hi all, Thanks for looking at my fundraising page. I have yet to start training for the Brighton Marathon but have had such an amazing response from friends in the first 3 hours of fundraising that I am now feeling highly motivated, so one way or another I will get round 26.2 miles on 12th April.

As we progress through life our view of the world evolves with our own experiences and those of our friends. Currently I am sure that we are all feeling our age even if we are doing OK so far. I have watched in awe as friends cope with adversity with dignity, compassion and resilience and this includes people with neurological diagnoses. Of these Parkinson's, dementia and stroke rank highly in the ranks of feared diseases but with improvements in medicine and biotechnology there is still hope of maintaining a useful and meaningful life.

A phrase which I try to adopt is "Observant optimism." for me this means being open to seeing, hearing and otherwise experiencing the beauty and goodness around us, even when the world is in turmoil and even when one's own personal situation is sub optimal. With that in mind I decided to do something practical to try to help people with Parkinson's. This is not a condition which I suffer from at present but my grandfather did back in the 1960's and I remember vividly how hard he found it, particularly its effect on his facial expression. He was a man with a great sense of humour but the disease stripped him of the ability to smile and his humour was often misinterpreted. 

Hopefully by donating to Parkinson's UK we can all help to support people with the condition as well as their family and friends as well as contributing to research into improved medical treatment.

Be generous, every bit of donation will help the society and also help me to get to the finishing line!

Thank you to my sponsors

£20

Jacqueline Johnson

Hi Dave, Lovely to hear you are still running and fundraising too . Well done and hope the back gets better soon . JJ Xx

£53.32

Mounty

Brilliant timing excellent effort !

£32.23

Anthony Smith

Good luck 🏃‍♂️

£21.36

Will Parry

£72

Mik Shupac

Great effort David!

£21.84

Carina Wilks

Good luck 👍

£27.05

Anne Witherspoon

Good luck David, hope it all goes well.

£50

David Boyle

£20

Deborah Reed

£21.36

Chris Kemp

Well done Dave, keep going!

£15

Terry Alabaster

Well done on raising a great amount of money. Enjoy Brighton.

£53.32

Vincent Thompson

Good luck Colonel

£32.23

Peter Gibson

£50

Anonymous

£26.75

Pete B

Enjoy the run, I may see you at the finish line!

£50

Anonymous

Good to see MGS making the running again!

£50

Catharine Hutley

The best of luck David, have a great run and raise lots for a fantastic charity. You must be quite mad even thinking of another marathon! P & K x

£10

Celine

You’ve got this, well done on your training David!

£63.80

Anonymous

Good luck Good cause

£106

Gail Jones

Good luck

£21.84

Sylvia Brough

Good luck David

£25

Brian And Rachel Muir

Great cause and in awe of your stamina to keep on running marathons.

£100

Graeme Marshall

Run well David. Fighting Parkinsons is a great cause and a winnable battle!

£106

Georgie Garthwaite

Well done David , a great charity to support. Good luck with the run

£50

Debbie Stephen

Well done David X

£25

Sallyanne Trafford

Enjoy! X

£100

Michael Butterworth

Good luck David! A very important cause.

£53.32

Francis Hornor

£106

Chris Graves

A most worthy cause to support, gone are those days when I was able to accompany you!! Enjoy

£106

Juliet Glass

Bravo David!

£30

Sally Hearne

David best of luck, and a really good cause,we know so many who have Parkinson’s. Xx

£32.23

Julia Simpson

Bonkers! However, good luck with the run and sorry we can’t be there to support in person. Will be thinking of you as we support the Paris marathon on the same day!

£32.23

Harry Clacy

£53.32

Rpert And Vanessa

£52.12

Mick Conroy

Well done David. Make this happen, non stop 🤞🤞🤞💪

£50

John And Katie

£53.32

Ray Kelly

Hope the marathon goes well!

£53.32

Marnie Fillingham

£21.84

S-j Lane

Wanted to add to B’s donation! A charity after my own heart…good luck with the training and good to see you both last weekend!

£2.02k

Anonymous

Hi David, good luck and a cause very close to our hearts. All the best, Chris.

£53.32

Anonymous

Good luck

£106

Edward & Amanda Astle

Good Luck David!

£53.32

Anonymous

Well done and we will be cheering you on from our armchairs! S&W

£106

Peter Forrester

£106

Lucy Bettley

Have a great run David

£53.32

Pene Parker

Keep running! Pene and Mike x

£21.84

William Toff

May the wind be at your back!

£21.84

Richard Brown

Go Dave!

£21.84

Allan Corder

Well done.

£21.36

Lis Hawthorne

£21.84

Sue Dilly

Great idea and huge admiration for your effort and determination. Xx

£21.84

Patricia Brand

£32.23

Joanna Harries

Well done David.

£30

James Gelister

Hope those knees hold out !

£21.84

Henry Mintz

You don’t have to do this David. Sit it out and I’d still donate it’s such a good cause. But as you are going to I wish your joints all the best. My knees and hips are fine but the MTPJs are not so happy!! All the best

£20

Virginia Leggatt

Go, David.

£53.32

Ian Weir

Well done David and good luck

£32.23

Teresa Pawlikowska

Wishing you the very best of luck. In admiration!

£21.84

Ian Robinson

Good luck Dave. Hope the weather behaves and not too warm.

£21.84

Phil Joseph

"I didn't know whether to duck or run, so I ran". (Bob Dylan). A good philosophy mio old amico x

£20

Richard Dawood

£21.84

Mark Trueman

Good luck! I think I can probably only just walk that far now!

£53.32

Andrew Bush

Go Dave, keep fit to organise our 50th reunion!!

£11.33

Colin Short

£53.32

Pam Loughna

Good luck, Dave. One foot in front of the other. Repeat!

£11.33

Ginny

Thank you! Love Ginny

£11.33

Ginny

Thank you! Love Ginny

£21.84

Peter And Latchmi Old

Good luck! Latchmi says it’s a great run - very friendly and great atmosphere. She’s doing Edinburgh Marathon in May

£20

Cath Spoors

Good luck and happy running!

£52.12

Kate

Good luck David x Kate

£21.84

Benedict Lane

Good luck

£21.84

Anne Stotter

Nice to know you're fit enough, at your age, to do something that daft

£27.05

Lesley Tarling

Such a great cause to support. Good luck!

£50

Graham Balin

Best of luck. May your gusset remain padded!