A caring son from Flintshire is gearing up for the London Marathon with a gruelling run 60 times around his dad’s care home – a total of 20 miles.
Lettings agent Paul Quinn, 45, whose father Peter Quinn suffers from Alzheimer’s Disease and is raising cash for the Alzheimer’s Society.
Paul, from Buckley, has been training hard for the 26 plus mile race around the streets of the capital on April 26.
As part of his training he ran around the service road of the Wrexham-based care organisation, Pendine Park, where is dad is a resident of the Bodlondeb dementia and mental health care centre.
With each lap measuring a third of a mile, Paul ran a total of 20 miles in preparation for the big day.
Paul, who runs Buckley-based Oakfield Property management along with his brother Garry, said: “I chose to run the London Marathon for the Alzheimer’s Society as my dad, Peter Quinn, is suffering from the condition and has been a resident at Bodlondeb since September of last year.
“As well as raising funds for the charity I wanted to raise awareness of Pendine Park. We really struggled with dad after he was diagnosed. He could be very difficult but where other care homes failed Pendine Park hasn’t.
“Dad’s on one to one care and the registered manager of Bodlondeb, Ann Chapman, always keeps us up-to-date with dad’s care plan and why they are trying different things.
“As a family we have found Ann Chapman to be incredible and so understanding.”
He added: “It’s been a horrible time. When someone in your family is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s you don’t know where to turn and you can’t understand why the person you love so much is acting the way they are.
“I met Mario Kreft, the proprietor of Pendine Park at a business function and pestered him, at a time I was really struggling, for some answers. He gave me invaluable advice and told me what to expect.
“Getting dad into Bodlondeb has been unbelievable and I don’t know what we would have done otherwise. I dread to think where we would now be. We visit dad every Sunday and, despite his condition, it’s good to see him relatively content.”
Paul says London will be his first marathon and he only started running in May of last year.
He said: “I did the Chester Half Marathon and quite enjoyed it. I decided to do more and up the distance so applied through the Alzheimer’s Society and managed to secure a charity place. I’ve since joined Buckley Running Club.
“For the training run around the Pendine Park service road I have put together a board with 200 squares with each one having a time, between two hours and three hours 59 minutes, in it.
“Through Ann Chapman staff and relatives of Bodlondeb residents have been guessing how long it will take me to complete the 60 laps. Each square is £1 with half of the £200 going to the person who has the closet guess to my actual finishing time and half going to the Alzheimer’s Society.
“I’m really grateful to Ann and all the staff at Pendine Park for their support and their help in raising so much money for the charity. I hope my final fundraising total will be close to, if not more than, £2,000.”
Ann Chapman said: “All the staff of Bodlondeb would like to wish Paul all the best for the London Marathon.
“I’m so glad he chose to raise funds for the Alzheimer’s Society which is a charity close to all our hearts. Running once around the service road here at Pendine Park would be hard enough so 60 times is a wonderful effort.”
For those wishing to donate to the Alzheimer’s Society Paul Quinn has a Virgin Money fundraising page which can be found at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/PaulQuinn7
