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David Kelly

Brighton Marathon 2026

Help me reach my goal of £1,500

My activity tracking

46
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

£3,259 + £782.44 GiftAid

My Goal

£1,500

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My updates

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

£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!