A CHARITY founder is set to run the London Marathon to mark his 50th birthday - 20 years after last taking on the challenge.

Andy Stevenson, from Burtonwood, last completed the 26-mile run in 1999 and marked his 50th in March.

Under a year later, his daughter Beth would be born seemingly healthy - but would later be struck down with Rett syndrome, which has left the now 19-year-old unable to move and speak.

Having previously run the London Marathon for the Foundation for Sudden Infant Death in memory of his nephew James, Andy will be raising funds for Reverse Rett - the charity he co-founded in 2010 in order to raise funds to fight the neurological condition - in the re-run later this month.

He said: "I wanted to do a big challenge this because I'm 50.

"When I thought about all the things I've done in the past, training for the marathon was the hardest.

"The day itself wasn’t the hardest, but the actual training throughout the winter was.

"It was horrible - I'd never run more than five miles when I first started the training and I'm not built for running long-distance.

"I entered the ballot in a moment of madness thinking I wouldn’t get in, and I got in so now I’ll have to do it.

"All I've been doing for a long time now is cycling, but now I'm running every day and I'm hating it.

"I've not had a drink since New Year's Eve, so I can think of better ways of celebrating my birthday - and I'll definitely have a bottle of champagne waiting when I've finished."

Clinical trials taking place in the USA have raised hopes that a cure for Rett syndrome may be widely available within the next decade.

Andy, who is also Reverse Rett's fundraising manager, added: "There are clinical trials starting this year in the USA that could actually give us a cure for Rett syndrome.

"All the work we’ve been doing over the past nine years is starting to pay off.

"It's a motivator for everyone who has a child with Rett syndrome.

"There’s going to be a lot of work to do but I would like to think that in the next 10 years we could see this brought in."

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