My Story

Welcome to our 2023 TCS London Marathon fund-raising page for the Macular Society - a charity dedicated to finding a cure for and supporting those living with macular disease.

As some of you know, I (Jonathan) was born with a rare genetic form of the disease known as 'Stargardt Macular Degeneration'. Over time, my sight, mainly the central vision, has significantly deteriorated to the point now where I cant' read text without the help of specialist software on my laptop and phone, recognise shapes and objects from a distance or make effective eye contact with others. Fortunately, I still have some peripheral vision that enables me to still have an awareness of what is around me even if sometimes I don't necessarily know what it is!    

Macular disease is the single biggest cause of sight loss in the UK.  Some key facts include: 

• Nearly 1.5m people of all ages have the condition;
• Around 300 people are diagnosed each day;
• Over 600,000 people aged 55 and over have the most common form known as age related macular degeneration (AMD). My late mother who sadly passed away last year had this condition.   

Whilst there have been some important medical advances over recent years that are now helping to slow down the rate of deterioration for those with AMD, a way of either preventing or successfully treating the disease is still to be found. 

However, despite having this condition and dealing with the many significant challenges that it presents every day, I've still managed to achieve a lot in my life, including successfully running the London Marathon several times in support of many good causes.  

This year, having once again secured a place via the ballot, I wanted to make it really personal by supporting an organisation that might one day find a way of helping people like me to see beter again. The Macular Society was the obvious choice!

And, this time (you'll be relieved to know!), I've enlisted the help of 'Maddie' as my guide runner who arguably will have the greatest challenge of all - keeping us both safe and on track (literally) during the training  and the race itself! Furthermore, Maddie's father also has a form of macular disease, so between us, this really is going to be a joint family affair! 

Finally, on behalf of us both, thank you in advance for your support and together with the Macular Society let's beat macular disease!

See you all at the finish line!

Jonathan & Maddie