Teesside runners preparing for the Great North Run

It's just over a week to go until hundreds and thousands of people from Teesside take on the world's biggest half marathon.

Nicola Jackson from Ingleby Barwick is doing the Great North run for the first time in memory of a Dean Fox, a Middlesbrough man who died two years ago from Motor Neurone Disease.

She's running to raise money and awareness for the Dean Fox MND Foundation.

Nicola said: "I thought, what, I'd be stupid not to. I know how much the charity meant and what obviously the pain that Dean went through and obviously the family and when obviously he passed away and I'd seen it, I'd seen the post, it kind of touched me. So when they'd asked me, it was a bit of a non-negotiable really and I had to do it.

"I didn't really know a lot about motor neurone disease and then I did my research. I've seen how it affects, I see how predominant it is now, and I just thought I had to do it. I thought I have to put myself through a challenging time to kind of get there, I just thought I have to do it for them, especially when I was so close to Alison, which is Dean's sister-in-law, through my working career in my early years.

"I just think obviously doing it for the family and the charity and everything like that, it is going to be emotional. I'll probably cry at the end because there's been a lot of work and a lot of commitment trying to get myself up to where I need to be and obviously comfortable to kind of run that distance and I just want to go and smash it for them.

"In all honesty, I want to go and run it. I want to take in all of the atmosphere, all of the surroundings, the support that's there. I've heard, I've spoke to so many people that have run it before and they say like the atmosphere, the people cheering you on, just the whole day is about just enjoying it. I'm welling up now just thinking about it but I just want to go out there and do my best and do it for them.

"They have been out of this world. They've messaged me, so not only like Christine and Alison and obviously the family, they've messaged me to say, you're doing amazing, brilliantly. And we've just had like constant contact as well, which has been for them to obviously have their faith and belief in me that I'm running this but that means a lot someone believes in me that I can go and do this for them as well.

"I have in my head that this is not for me, though I've always wanted to run the Great North Run, and I'm doing that for me, this is not for me. This is nothing about me. This is doing it for a charity that means so much to myself and so much to obviously Christine and the foundation. And I just want to go and smash it and make them all proud."

You can support Nicola here.