A BUILTH Wells man is pounding the pavements of the 'Big Smoke' as he prepares to take on the London Marathon in memory of his father.

Aled Jones will be running the Virgin London Marathon on Sunday, April 21, aiming to raise funds for the PSP (Progressive Supranuclear Palsy) Association.

Aled's dad Dennis died just before Christmas 2010 after a long illness.

Dennis, a popular Builth figure, having worked for over 20 years at the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society and been a dedicated member of both Builth Male Voice Choir and Builth Football Club, was diagnosed with the rare life limiting brain disease MSA (Multiple System Atrophy), in January 2007, and had become progressively weaker before he died on December 3, 2010.

MSA and PSP are both little known progressive neurological disorders and Aled, 27, who is now a primary school teacher in London, will be running the marathon alongside housemate Megan Williams, whose mother works for the PSP Association.

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