11/05/2025 - 'London marathon, the view from the top and sleep apnoea' by David

Running the London marathon has always been an ambition of mine, but I was never successful in attempts via the ballot over the years. Then came my Motor Neurone Disease diagnosis, and I thought my chance to take part in the biggest and best marathon in the world had gone. 

We then discovered assisted running with a specialist wheelchair, and after taking part in the Great Bristol, Great Scottish, and Southampton 10k's, Alice and I decided to apply for London. Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful in this year's assisted wheelchair ballot, so we booked a hotel, and had plans to be part of the MNDA cheer squad. 

However, after Alice emailed the organisers detailing my story, and with assistance from the Whizz Kidz charity and Martin Davy from Delichon, the company that made our running wheelchair, on appeal, we were given a place and under beautiful spring sunshine, my dream came true.

We travelled up on Friday and settled into our hotel. Having grown up on a sleepy island, I love the vibrancy of London, especially in the sunshine. The pace, the sounds, the smells, and the diversity of the people, it's all so different, so exciting. We lay on the bed, and while Alice caught up with candy crush, I lay on my back in silence, watching the blue sky, and the trees, buildings and the aeroplanes gaining height as they leave the capital city. The air was warm and we didn't move until darkness was upon us.

We rose for parkrun at Battersea and were joined by our friend Andy, and my daughter Anna.

We all volunteered as park walkers, to save our legs for the marathon, and we met a man called Rob from Derbyshire, who told us that he was inspired by the MND journey of Rob Burrow and Kevin Sinfield to walk 5,000 miles in 500 days carrying a cash bucket, orange and blue balloons, and an MNDA flag. He averages 10 miles a day and was on day 391. He was in London to walk the marathon to fill his bucket, and he has raised over £33,000 so far. 

Team Baker, comprising of Alice, Anna, Andy, and Martin, pushed me the 26.2 miles around the capital, and we had an amazing day, full of all the emotions.

We set off resplendent in our light blue #mndcangetinthesea race shirts, and my four teammates took turns pushing me. Through tears, sweat, pain, smiles, and a sea of water bottles, we wound our way through the streets, being cheered every step of the way.

Apparently there were a million people by the roadside and it certainly sounded like it - the atmosphere was amazing. The cries of "Go on David" from all these total strangers, were amazing, and the noise made by many of our friends and family that had come to support us, was absolutely incredible. 

We had our own cheer squad of vegan runner friends from Hampshire, Bristol, Wiltshire, Norfolk, London and elsewhere, and we had family and friends dotted around the course too. The noise at the MNDA cheer point at mile 21 was totally insane and as we passed they were chanting "David!, David!, David!" 

Out on the course, we met so many amazing people. Rob with his bucket, Alex, a fellow MND warrior in a Delichon chair, walked the first and last mile, and little Evie and her support team, also in a Delichon chair. Sarah, who I worked with at the hospital, was running the marathon for Save The Children, and Charlotte, another ex colleague, was running in the orange and blue of the MNDA. I also met vegan runner, and fellow Derby County fan Rich, who was running for the NSPCC. 

As a thank you for helping us to get a place, and because Martin's company supply them with running chairs for children with disabilities, we decided to raise money for Whizz Kidz, and we have so far raised £1,915.

Rob Burrow's wife, Lindsey, and her brother were also running but among 56,000 starters, it was no surprise that we didn't see them. Alice and I thanked every runner we saw in an MNDA vest, and we all shared a moment of togetherness. 

I couldn't be prouder of Alice and Anna right now. Alice, as you all know, is my best friend, wife, carer, and all round machine, taking everything that is thrown at her, scrunching it up, and throwing it back. She has had a chest infection on and off for a few months now, but has run through it and on the day, was the strongest in our team. Anna, who had only ever run a half before, was also on antibiotics for a throat infection, and infact, had to stop to take them on our run. She hit the wall around the halfway mark, but after a few tears and encouragement from the four of us, she rallied, finished strongly with a smile on her face, and is now a marathon runner!

The last few kilometres past Big Ben and along Birdcage Walk were very welcome sights and as our reward, when we were passing Big Ben, the bell chimed 5pm. As we passed Buck House and approached the Mall, we all felt a massive sense of achievement.

As the finish line was in view, I was helped out of my chair, and I walked over the line holding onto Alice and Anna, with Andy and Martin by our side.

It was very emotional for all of us, and we fell into each other's arms, totally drained physically, but so proud of each other. 

While the runners legs, feet, and toenails suffered, I was equally exhausted, but for different reasons. My voice, neck, hands, and arms are all weakened by MND, and sitting forward, clapping, and saying thank you a thousand times, all took their toll, and we were all pleased to find a bit of peace at the end to reflect on our experience, and get some photos with our medals. 

Our finish, with me being helped over the line was captured live on TV, and within minutes of finishing, we were being inundated with texts of "I saw you on the telly!"

Taking part in the London Marathon was one of the best days of my life. It really couldn't have gone any better, and I am so grateful to everyone that made it happen, or supported us.

Thanks also to Penny £781 and Fiona, £623 who were running for the MNDA in my name, and to Anja, who also trained to run for the MNDA, but has had to defer to 2026 through injury. 

We had originally planned to get the train home after the event, but Martin kindly offered to pay for us to stay in London for another night, which was very generous of him. It was called the Londoner in Leicester Square, and was the poshest Hotel I have ever stayed in. It had a guy in top hat and tails at the entrance to greet us, and a dressing room between the bedroom and the bathroom. We slept really well on a gorgeous bed, and after meeting Andy for lunch, we walked through St James' Royal Park to Victoria Station in our race t-shirts and medals, then said goodbye to London. 

I had my 6 monthly respiratory appointment at the hospital last week and it was very encouraging. Apart from continuing to lose weight, everything else was good news. My sniff and cough strength hasn't deteriorated, and my blood gases were good. I had to wear a blood saturation probe overnight prior to the appointment, and he said they detected a couple of new instances of sleep apnoea, so we are going to keep an eye on that, but my consultant was happy to keep my appointments at six monthly so I was pleased overall. I wore my mndcangetinthesea top and medal to my appointment as I was going up to my old office to show off basically. I even wore it on the bus, much to Alice's amusement. 

One thing that unfortunately does cause me to be out of breath these days is getting myself dressed. I can't do buttons any more, and I need assistance getting coats on, and shirts being tucked into trousers, but I'm determined to do as much as I can until I can't. Socks take about 5 minutes, and my breathing has become harder. Pants follow, and it usually takes about four attempts to get my legs in the correct holes! By the time that they are on and up, I'm starting to sweat. Trousers are next. If I'm at home it's just 'comfies' (sweatpants), but if I'm going out, I struggle with jeans, or a nice pair of strides. Then to finish, it's a shirt. Getting anything over my head is problematic as my arms are so weak, and once it's over my head, I then don't have the strength to pull each side down to my waist. It's at this point that I'm physically tired, so I call for Alice's assistance. I've gone from from running marathons and feeling fine, to getting dressed and being out of breath. It's upsetting and demoralising, but until I lose all my strength, and am totally dependent on others, I will continue to fight the good fight.

Dani, my speech and language therapist rang to ask how my voice and swallow has been since we last spoke. I told her that my voice hasn't deteriorated any further, but that I have noticed in the last few weeks that I'm not fully swallowing sometimes, which means that I have to cough to enable me to clear my throat. I'm not worried about it at the moment, but it may be the start of what is going to necessitate the feeding tube that I'm having inserted in June. Dani is going to come out and reassess my swallow.   

We recently had a cheeky little trip to Bristol. It was our third visit, and we've fallen in love with the city. We were driven to parkrun by our friend Hugo, with Rachel, Ben, and Luna the dog, and we met up with our Bristol running friends for a parkrun at Ashton Court, a beautiful estate with an 11th century mansion.

The course has over 100 metres of elevation, so we volunteered as park walkers again, and it was a joy talking with other walkers with rolling hills, the sound of skylarks, and herds of deer enjoying the morning sunshine.

It was hard for Alice, but once at it's highest point, there are lovely views so we stopped for the obligatory photo.

Somehow I managed to 'accidentally' pack my London medal, so I thought I might as well wear it to show fellow parkrunners, and it was admired and felt by many. Infact, we were stopped by a couple who said they saw us out on the course. 

After a post parkrun snooze, Alice and I wandered around the harbourside area, took some photos, and had a cheeky cocktail, then joined hundreds of others soaking up the afternoon sun by the river, before making our way to The Dark Horse pub, our venue for the evening. I was invited to do a DJ set at an MNDA charity event, with The Radio Makers, a Bristol band that I have played with before.

Andy from the band, and his friend John organised the night, which included an auction, and bids were taken on signed photos of Graham Norton and Michael Palin, ice hockey and basketball tickets, a tour of Celtic Park, signed Rangers, Man U, and England men's cricket shirts, and a Lewis Hamilton signed cap. The auction raised £350, with the man-ure shirt not reaching it's £50 reserve, so that will go on ebay to hopefully add to the total. After a great set by The Radio Makers, I played an hour of 70’s and 80's that went down a storm. Thank you to Sue, Alison, Jo, and Debbie, who danced for the whole hour! 

On the Sunday morning, we again went down to the harbourside, and went on a boat trip on the Avon past Brunel's SS Great Britain, and other landmarks, before boarding our train home.

As we headed back to the train, we were stopped in our tracks by thousands of people on bikes, roller boots and skateboards while drum and bass blasted out. Apparently this is an annual event and looked great fun so we will try and go back to Bristol next year, and Alice says she'll run it with me in my own set of wheels. 

I'm writing this as we speed home to Southampton to see Teddy, and Alice wants to rest her legs, and arms, after pushing me around all weekend, and walking quite a few miles!

All week, she had been telling me how tired, she was, and that after our weekend away, she was looking forward to a lie in.. So what does she go and do? Register for a bank holiday 10k event in Harewood forest! I keep likening her to a machine, but I sometimes wonder if she actually is? I need to find the off button, or remove the batteries. 

This weekend we attended the wedding on the island of our friends Anna and Glen and it was held in a gorgeous refurbished chandlery in Cowes. It included ice creams on the beach, and take away pizzas by the waterside, the sun shone down, and the bride looked beautiful. 

I will finish with the news that two of my very best long term friends Guy and Neil, have decided to put themselves through a gruelling 270 mile bike ride in my name for the MNDA. They will cycle from The Needles (Land's End Isle of Wight), to Land's End in Cornwall over 3 days in May, riding more than 90 miles a day! I am so grateful to them for doing this. I met up with them and presented them each with an Mnd Can Get In The Sea shirt to wear on their journey. I really do have amazing friends!!!