Gran’s battle with Parkinson’s inspired London marathon run
A NOVICE runner has been training hard for this weekend’s London marathon.
Danielle De Kock, 22, decided to sign up for the event last year, when she had little to no running experience, in an attempt to raise some money for charity.
‘I had the idea of doing it to push myself, but I knew I’d only do it if it was for a charity that meant something to me, and that’s when I saw Parkinson’s UK were looking for runners,’ she said.
Her gran was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2012, and fought an eight-year battle with the disease before she died in 2020.
‘We went through some tough times, it’s really hard watching someone you love and care about just deteriorate over time,’ said Ms De Kock.
‘People don’t really know too much about Parkinson’s and Parkinson’s UK do some amazing things so it made perfect sense to raise money and run for them.’
Despite the odd run in lockdown, Ms De Kock has never been a runner and used to struggle to run more than five or 10 minutes, before beginning training in May.
‘I have found now that the better you get, the more enjoyable it becomes and I love seeing my progress.’
At this stage she is running two or three times a week, aiming to run around 40k throughout a week, usually with two 10ks and a 20k. ‘Training is a complete mental battle, and once you learn to push on then you realise that you can do it,’ she said.
‘I do enjoy the sense of achievement after a run and I am very excited for the marathon, but parts of me just can’t wait to get it over with, because it feels like it’s been looming for a while now.’
She has to raise £2,100 for Parkinson’s UK in order to be eligible to run for the charity, and managed to hit that.
‘Obviously the main target is to get over £2,100, but I would love to go above and beyond that and see how much I can actually raise for the charity.’
She has set herself the target of running the marathon in less than five hours, and is grateful to everyone who has donated.She added that she was nervous and excited, but pleased to have raised so much so far.
n To donate visit https://tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/danielle-de-kock-fc540
