A HAMPSHIRE couple are taking on a gruelling running challenge in memory of their grandmothers.

Stacey Olsen and Jon Page will take part in the Bupa Great South Run on October 26 in aid of Alzheimer’s Research.

Reception supervisor Stacey, 22, from Totton, has already raised more than £1,500 for the charity through fun days and ladies’ night events over the past year.

Her grandmother, Diana Whitehorn, from Hounsdown, was only 58 when she was diagnosed with early-onset Alzhemier’s disease, and died last February, aged 64.

Jon, a 27-year-old scaffolder from West Wellow, is joining her after his grandmother, Betty Reynolds, from West Wellow, lived with the illness until her death from pancreatic cancer, aged 83, last November. They will now be joining 25,000 other runners in the ten-mile race in Portsmouth in a bid to raise cash for Alzheimer’s Research UK.

Jon said: “Alzheimer’s disease is a horrible thing to go through, both for the person with it and for their families. If we can do anything to help prevent other people being affected by it, we will.”

To sponsor Stacey and Jon, visit justgiving.com/staceyandpagey or text PGEY88 and amount (example PGEY88 £10) to 70070.