Dan Ince is looking forward to taking part in the London Marathon for the first time next Sunday (October 2). The engineer from Greenfield, Bedfordshire, has always been a keen runner but never quite had the motivation to take on the marathon distance until this year when his five year old daughter, Elise, provided the inspiration he needed.
“Elise has been great friends with Olivia since they met at pre-school,” explains Dan, 37. “Olivia is funny, bubbly and beautiful inside and out and most of the time bounces around with the same carefree abandon as any other four year old. However, she is living with incurable liver disease which makes her quite poorly from time to time, resulting in her needing hospital treatment and frequent tests and monitoring. Ultimately, as the disease progresses, she will need a liver transplant.
“This is tough for any family to cope with but Children’s Liver Disease Foundation (CLDF) do lots of critical work, not only researching childhood liver diseases and developing possible treatments, but critically, supporting children like Olivia and their families. I learned about the great work they do when Olivia’s mum completed the marathon last year for CLDF. It was definitely the spark I needed to kick myself into action to raise awareness and funds for such cause which is very close to home, so I applied for a place and was lucky enough to get one!
“I’ve been training since last December and, apart from a bout of COVID and a week off due to injury this summer, I’ve stuck to my plan. My most recent injury will still be with me on race day but I’m still confident of getting around, and hope to do so in just over four hours.
“I’ve been delighted with the response to my fundraising. My aim was to raise £2,000 for CLDF and I’ve already hit that with donations still coming in. I now feel ready for Marathon day – if I can achieve a respectable time, and maximise my fundraising, it will be great to think that a somewhat selfish personal goal has really made a difference.”
Rebecca Cooper, Chief Executive of Children’s Liver Disease Foundation commented: “CLDF is the only UK charity dedicated to fighting all childhood liver diseases, by providing information and emotional support, funds for research and a voice for all those affected. In order to do this, however, we rely on voluntary donations, so we are delighted to hear that little Olivia has inspired Dan to do the London Marathon for us. It’s a huge commitment but his fundraising really will make a difference to Olivia and children like her around the UK. We wish him all the very best for the day.”
You can support Dan’s London Marathon challenge by going to Daniel Ince is fundraising for Children’s Liver Disease Foundation (justgiving.com)
