MONMOUTHSHIRE County Council employee Sian Hayward is to run the 2014 London Marathon in memory of her father, former Welsh rugby international Dai Hayward.  

Dai suffered from dementia towards the end of his life and experienced runner Sian hopes to raise funds for Alzheimer's Research UK. 

This will be Sian's first marathon and she's confident she'll complete the 26.2 mile course after training hard for the event though she acknowledges it will be a tough challenge.

Dai, a native of Newbridge, played for the town's rugby team in the 1950s as a destructive back row performer before moving to Cardiff in 1957 and establishing a 40 year relationship with the Arms Park club. He gained six caps for Wales and on his retirement from the playing field in 1967 took up coaching and later spent many years as a Cardiff RFC committeeman, becoming club chairman in 1985/86.  His legendary programme notes were noted for their wit, reflecting his trade as a journalist.

Sian, who lives in Usk, said: "It's a big fear of mine that our bodies are lasting longer yet dementia is on the increase, slowly taking away everything that makes us the characters we are.  This can be really scary for the friends and family of people affected.  My father was an articulate, intelligent, witty man with such a passion for life that it was devastating to see it being slowly taken away when he was in his mid-sixties.  There isn't a cure yet, but I'm hoping the funds raised can help research and provide support to Alzheimer's sufferers as well as their families, friends and carers."