Dead heat finish for Alzheimer’s Society celebrities in Bupa London 10,000

Celebrity TV gardener Chris, seen on BBC 2 last week at the Chelsea Flower Show, usually goes running with his dog. Clearly delighted with his time, Chris said,

'I've had a fantastic day and would love to do another run for Alzheimer's Society. The run was quite a challenge at times, but we had marvellous support along the route and knowing it's for a good cause keeps you going.'

Chris's new 'running partner', Animal Hospital presenter Jamie Darling, said he sped up when he saw one of the female celebrity runners pulling ahead of him. Jamie said,

'I felt quite competitive and started to chase after her - then I realised it was (World Champion long distance runner) Liz McColgan and thought maybe she might have the edge over me! I'm thrilled with our time though and hope that Alzheimer's Society are on track to raise the funds they need for their work'.

Around 300 people took part for Alzheimer's Society, expected to raise £85,000 for Alzheimer's Society. The Bupa London 10,000 was won by defending champion Mo Farah who set a new British record of 27 minutes and 44 seconds.

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Notes to editors:

For photographs please contact:

Alzheimer's Society                                     Bupa                         
Jayne Phenton                                               Jo Hudson
T. 020 7423 3595                                            T. 020 7656 2273                              
E. press@alzheimers.org.uk                            E. joanne.hudson@bupa.com

Alzheimer's Society:

• One in three people over 65 will die with dementia.
• Alzheimer's Society research shows that 750,000 people in the UK have a form of dementia, more than half have Alzheimer's disease. In less than 20 years nearly a million people will be living with dementia. This will soar to 1.7 million people by 2051.
• Alzheimer's Society champions the rights of people living with dementia and the millions of people who care for them. 
• Alzheimer's Society works in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
• Alzheimer's Society needs to raise money to help people live well with dementia today and for research to find a cure for tomorrow. You can donate now by calling 0845 306 0898 or visiting alzheimers.org.uk
  
• Alzheimer's Society provides a National Dementia Helpline, the number is 0845 300 0336 or visit alzheimers.org.uk
  

Bupa
Bupa is a leading international healthcare company. Established in 1947, it has over ten million customers in more than 190 countries and employs over 52,000 people around the world. Its main interests are health insurance, care homes for young disabled and older people, workplace health services, health assessments and chronic disease management services, including health coaching and healthcare services in the home.

While Bupa's largest and original business is in the UK, it has significant operations around the world including Sanitas in Spain, MBF, HBA, Mutual Community in Australia, IHI in Denmark and Health Dialog in the US. It also has businesses in Hong Kong, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, India, China and Latin America. In addition, Bupa Care Services owns care homes in Spain, Australia and New Zealand.
Bupa has no shareholders. It reinvests its money to provide better healthcare for its customers, helping them to live longer, happier, healthier lives.

• Bupa is the largest owner/operator of care homes for older people in the UK.
• It is one of the largest organisations in the UK to be awarded the Investor in People quality standard, most recently in 2006. 
• The company delivers highly-individualised care through its award-winning Personal Best initiative.
• It operates 304 nursing and residential homes with over 21,000 registered beds in the UK - more than 25 percent of which are registered for specialist dementia care.
•  Approximately 70 percent of those who live in Bupa care homes receive state funding.