On 28 April, over 1,500 runners took to the streets of London to participate in the iconic 2019 Virgin Money London Marathon, in aid of the ‘Dementia Revolution’ campaign. The Dementia Revolution is a ground-breaking partnership from Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer’s Research UK, as the official Charity of the Year for the Virgin Money London Marathon. The two charities have united together for the year-long campaign to raise awareness of dementia and that through research one day we can beat it and raise GBP 3.5 million (approx. EUR 4 million) to fund the vital dementia research of the UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI).
A record breaking number of Dementia Revolution runners, known as Revolutionaries, travelled from all across the UK and even as far as Australia to be on the start line of the 26.2 mile course. Runners were aged from 18 to almost 80, many of whom were affected by dementia in some way, including carers for relatives, scientists working at the UKDRI, and two runners living with dementia themselves. Other notable participants were ‘Barbara's Revolutionaries’(actors from British television programme EastEnders running for screen icon Dame Barbara Windsor, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2014), as well as Guinness Book of World Record attempts, including a man dressed as famous London landmark Big Ben.
Race day had a fantastic atmosphere that served as a very fitting finale to the year-long partnership. Hundreds of enthusiastic volunteers in blue and purple Dementia Revolution colours supported the Revolutionaries at cheer points along the course, uniting together with the runners to make a very public stand against dementia and raise vital funds for dementia research. To find out more about the Dementia Revolution visit: www.dementiarevolution.org
