Meet the people with Alzheimer's and their families coming together in a dementia run club

Dementia Run Club is Alzheimer’s Society’s running group for people who have personal or professional connections to dementia. Some have dementia themselves. They will run the AJ Bell Great North Run in September to raise money for Alzheimer’s Society. Meet the members… 

Jane Buckels, 68, Abergavenny

I realised I might have dementia when I started struggling at work. I was getting lost on my way home, forgetting my notes or taking the wrong paperwork. I wondered if I was looking at the early stages of dementia as my father and grandmother had Alzheimer’s. They were quite elderly when they were diagnosed but had symptoms earlier on.

My GP referred me to the memory service. I went on basic medication. That was 11 years ago and it’s still mild. That’s the beauty of early diagnosis. 

I live alone. I look after myself. Running clears the head. I’m looking forward to the Great North Run because it gives me a target. It’s nice to have a community that understands each other. I don’t want to be in it all the time – I live in the big wide world. But it is very supportive and everybody gets it.

Paul Lindsay, 52, Nottingham

My dad’s quite poorly with Alzheimer’s. When we were younger, my dad and I used to be in a running club. We’ve got a great relationship and found common ground in running. We’d run five or six times a week, doing half marathons and marathons across the country.

When I was approached by Alzheimer’s Society to join the run club, I was excited because Dad and I did the Great North Run in 1996. My dad was a professor and a senior social worker. He’s the kindest person you’d ever meet. 

Even though he’s really poorly with Alzheimer’s, he’s never changed. He’s still a happy person even though he can’t express his wants and needs very well these days. But he’s a legend to us anyway. 

He’s been living with Alzheimer’s for a decade and it’s a hard thing to go through as a family. It’s a big shift in all our lives. Running gives me time to think and process. 

That’s the beauty of the Alzheimer’s Society Run Club – there are people with shared issues and concerns. It’s marvellous.

Read more:

• Meet the people raising awareness of dementia in the South Asian community
• How I finally fell in love with running after years of avoiding exercise
• ‘I’ve been axe throwing and tractor riding since being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s’ 

Jack Busby, 24, London

We lost my grandad to dementia this year. In the last two years, the memory was a big thing, but he also had loss of mobility and speech and was very dependent on other people. 

It was tough to watch him deteriorate and struggle. Running is my safe space – time where I don’t think, I just run. It has such physical benefits, but the mental benefits outweigh those tenfold. It gives me a chance to breathe and forget the pressures and struggles that came with watching my grandad live and ultimately pass away from Alzheimer’s.

Alzheimer’s Society is the official charity partner of the AJ Bell Great Run Series 2026/2027.

Sign up to run for Alzheimer’s Society or donate to the Dementia Run Club.

This story was told in our special edition of the Big Issue taken over by people with dementia. Buy a copy here.

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. 

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