“My name is Ruaridh. I am eleven years old and in Primary 7. I live in a coastal village in East Lothian and on April 12, I will set myself a personal endurance challenge where I am going to run just over one mile, every hour on the hour, for a period of twenty-four hours until I complete the distance of a marathon!
"I am doing this because my granny, who is 82 and lives close by, has Alzheimer’s disease. We are a close family and my challenge is in dedication to her. I would love to try and raise some money for Alzheimer Scotland in the hope that one day there will be a cure. My uncle cares for my granny and I would also like to dedicate my fundraising funds to the support services at Alzheimer Scotland who help carers who look after their loved ones. My dad Jonny and my big cousin Tom are going to be doing this challenge with me and will help me all the way through. It’s going to be a family team effort!
"I have always been an active person and enjoy outdoor activities with all my family. My dad used to be a strength and conditioning coach, so I have always wanted to do an endurance challenge with him. My passion for this challenge came from completing a 100km run over the month of February through the jog club at my school.
"In my daily routine I like to stay fit and active but also maintain a healthy diet. We go on a lot of family walks and runs. I love playing lots of football and sometimes I also do weight resistance training with my dad. Growing up I have always been told to keep the blood pumping around my heart and how important physical activity is in promoting brain health. I strive to encourage other children my age to stay fit and active to protect their own brain health and lower the risk of developing dementia in later years".
Lucy, Ruaridh’s Mum said:
“We are always so proud of Ruaridh, and this challenge that he is taking on has just blown us even more away! We feel that for him to do something like this to help other people when he is only eleven years old is just absolutely amazing, and we are bursting with pride. He has already been featured in both the Edinburgh Evening News and The East Lothian Courier. We have been advertising his challenge on social media and locally by putting posters up. Ruaridh has taken all of this in his stride and is just excited to get going soon! We are all looking forward to supporting him along the way and doing some runs and keeping him going. His Uncle Johnny in Melbourne is even going to take part in the challenge by running the first and last mile of the 24-hour challenge with them at the same time. We can’t wait to watch Ruaridh achieve something so amazing".
We wish Ruaridh and his family good luck in their exciting challenge! Ruaridh has already raised £2690 and counting for Alzheimer Scotland. You can support Ruaridh’s fundraising JustGiving page here.