‘I took up running to cope with my dad’s death – and to prevent Alzheimer’s coming for me’

It was the small things at first, says Stuart Lambie. His father, Ian, would ask a question and then repeat it, minutes later, seemingly with no recollection of it having already been answered. “It was my wife, Hazel, who noticed first,” explains Stuart, “but gradually it became obvious that something was going on.

“I’d have described my dad as a very gentle man,” he continues. “He was an incredibly kind and supportive father to my sister and me.”

Growing up in Glasgow, Ian had served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War and enjoyed a career with British Rail before setting up his own construction company. “He was fit, active and sociable and had many friends,” Stuart adds.

However, living nearly 300 miles away in Shropshire, Stuart became more worried about his dad. “I suppose I didn’t want to admit to myself what was happening,” he says, “and I felt bad that we weren’t closer. But when my parents came down for a visit in 2011 it was obvious that something was very wrong with Dad’s memory.”

Married since 1954, Stuart’s parents were a close couple. Now his mum, Netta, was also worried. “We agreed that I would talk to him and try to persuade him to seek medical help. So, one morning at breakfast, when there was no one else around, I broached it. It’s probably the toughest conversation I’ve ever had in my life,” he adds.

Stuart explained that the family were concerned about his memory. “Dad shook his head and grumbled a bit,” he says. However, a visit to Ian’s GP was arranged – “We couched it that he was just going for a bit of an MOT” – leading to a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease in the same year.

Netta cared for Ian at home in Glasgow with the hands-on support of her daughter, Anne, who lived nearby. Stuart did what he could from a distance, and on visits to Glasgow he could see the changes in his dad: “He had always been very engaged with people and enthusiastic about life, but now he was becoming withdrawn; he stopped playing golf and going to football games.” Even so, enormous amounts of diplomacy were required to persuade Ian that he no longer needed his golf club membership and season ticket to Rangers Football Club.

“He went from being a gentle person to becoming incredibly stubborn and defiant,” Stuart explains. “He and Mum were church elders and they still went to church on Sundays. But now Dad would often refuse to get out of the car. Mum would have to ask a member of the congregation to help her. She was in her early 80s by then and I worried about the strain on her.”

On one occasion, when Ian still had his licence, he and Netta had driven in convoy through a busy Glasgow neighbourhood to return their daughter’s car. “Mum was in the car in front and Dad was driving behind her when they stopped at traffic lights. Mum was waiting for the lights to change when Dad suddenly pulled out into the opposite carriageway, drove straight past her and sailed through the red lights. Fortunately there was no other traffic.”

For those caring for loved ones with Alzheimer’s disease, such incidents are extremely stressful. There is often a sense of muddling through and a growing dread of what the next incident or crisis might be. Eventually Stuart’s father, who had always been so kind, became verbally and occasionally physically aggressive. “Before then I had never heard my dad swear. It was as if someone else was living in his body,” Stuart says.

As the symptoms worsened, Stuart realised that, as well as trying to support his parents, he should also pay attention to his own future health. A father of three, now all in their 30s, he was inspired to start running when his youngest son Jamie took part in the 2018 London Marathon. As a first step, and feeling somewhat out of his depth, Stuart turned up at his local Parkrun in Shrewsbury. Despite “gasping and puffing” the first few times, he was soon hooked. “I discovered that Alzheimer’s Research UK was an official Parkrun charity partner,” he says, “so I signed up for its Running Down Dementia virtual challenge.” The annual challenge was to run or walk 100km between April and August to raise £100 for life-changing research.

“The charity struck a chord with me,” says Stuart, who is retired following a career in horticultural research and technology. “In my own work I could see that 30, 40 years of research had led to outcomes that no one would have ever dreamed possible. In terms of Alzheimer’s, research is absolutely key. Alzheimer’s Research UK is focused on discovering what causes this terrible disease and other forms of dementia. I have every confidence that the smart people involved will be able to deliver a cure.”

Determined to fundraise while taking steps to safeguard his own health, Stuart progressed to running half marathons, then completed the 2021 London Marathon in a “good for age” category of 3 hours and 30 minutes. More marathons followed, and although he is aware that fitness doesn’t always prevent Alzheimer’s, he is keen to minimise the risks as much as possible. “Although I’d never been a big drinker, I started to cut back on alcohol and paid attention to my diet like never before.”

At 65, Stuart particularly loves the “headspace” aspect of long-distance running. “It’s as if your mind empties itself of everything else. You’re just in the moment,” he says. “Plus, it’s known that social isolation is a risk factor in dementia. Through running I have found a completely new social network – and that’s been life changing.”

On 18 April 2020, Stuart’s father passed away, aged 94. As a Royal Navy veteran, Ian had been cared for at an Erskine care home for ex-servicemen in Scotland during the last few months of his life. “We were in the thick of Covid restrictions,” Stuart remembers, “so my wife and I couldn’t be with Dad at the end. My sister and her husband had to wait in the car outside the home. Thankfully Mum – his best friend for 69 years – was right there by his side as he passed away.”

Stuart, his mum and family are keen to remember Ian as the man he was, before Alzheimer’s changed him. “When I started running it was an outlet for the frustration I felt at being unable to do more to help,” Stuart says. And he has come a long way from gasping for breath at his local Parkrun. “When I took this up, it was around 45 years since I’d done any proper running. That had been cross country at school.”

In the way that Alzheimer’s Research UK is transforming the outlook for those affected by dementia, pulling on a pair of running shoes has dramatically changed Stuart’s life too. In 2025, he is set to run both the Paris and London marathons – just two weeks apart. “I run to raise awareness of this terrible condition,” he says, “and to raise money for research so other families don’t have to go through the heartbreak of dementia like mine has.”

Explore other ways to look after your brain health with Alzheimer’s Research UK’s Think Brain Health campaign. Visit alzheimersresearchuk.org

Alzheimer’s Research UK is one of four charities supported by this year’s Telegraph Christmas Charity Appeal. The others are Humanity & Inclusion, Teenage Cancer Trust and Army Benevolent Fund. To make a donation, visit telegraph.co.uk/2024appeal or call 0151 317 5247