Story
<p>Alex continues to enter mountain bike and road bike races to raise awareness and fundraise for the Samantha Dickson Brain Tumour Trust.</p>
<p>Dartmoor Classic 2012 100 Miles</p>
<p>Exmoor Beauty 2012 100km</p>
<p>Exmoor Beast 2011 100km</p>
<p>Dartmoor Classic 2011 100km</p>
<p>MDCC Haldon Evening Series Round 1, 2, 3</p>
<p>Exmoor Beast 2010 100km</p>
<p>Bontrager twentyfour12 2010 24hr endurance</p>
<p>Soggy Bottoms Round 1</p>
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<p>The Bontrager TwentyFour12- We've done it!!!</p>
<p>My awesome team of Jonathan Button, Alex Henderson, Steve Tarbard, Jonathan Soellner, Paul W and myself completed 21 laps around a 13km muddy and rainy track in 24 hours. Earning a respectable 10th out of 20 teams!</p>
<p>With only a couple of restless hours in a sleeping bag each, the team went on through the night. Getting up to go out and do yet another muddy lap one after another. </p>
<p>To say that it was muddy would be an understatement. We had mud in places where no mud should be! Bike wheels were ceasing up, gears were being crunched and chains broken.</p>
<p>Fatigue and delirium setting in with the sunset. We carried on... Team spirit was high and the cause was never a distant thought. </p>
<p>Thank you all for your support over the last months!</p>
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<p>We are going to be racing our mountain bikes for 24hours on the 24th July 2010, taking part in the Bontrager twentyfour12 challenge. </p>
<p><br>Sofia is the reason why we are doing all the fundraising. In January 2009, just before her 2nd birthday she was diagnosed with a brain tumour. She had it removed and after a hard recovery, we now only need to have routine scans. Although we are pretty much getting on with our lives as before, it's far from perfect. Aside from the anxieties associated with the scans every 6 months, the surgery has left some lasting effects on her stability and co-ordination. But this is a second chance none-the-less and we consider ourselves very lucky. The main point is that a lot of kids and young adults are not so lucky...<br><br>Although brain tumours are fairly rare, the mortality from brain tumours has now overtaken other cancers. However the funding that brain tumour research receives is only 1% of all cancer research! This just does not make any sense.<br><br>This is what we are trying to address. </p>
<p>Obviously we cannot address the massive shortfall in funding all by ourselves, but something has to be done and by telling Sofia's story it will hopefully make it real. We want to make people realise that brain tumours <em>just happen</em>. And they happen to 'normal' people! We don't know why, we don't know how. There are many many types of brain tumours, some are worse than others. The type Sofia had (a low grade juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma) is the most common in under 5's and if she'd had this growth anywhere else in her body, we probably wouldn't have even known about it... But because it was in her head, it had to be removed as a matter of urgency, as it was starting to cause intra-cranial pressure to build up. Surgical procedures are improving all the time, but this is still a very 'primitive' approach, as opposed to targeted drug therapy or even prevention. We just don't know enough about what makes healthy cells turn cancerous, so right now these brain tumours cannot be prevented.<br><br>The charity that we've chosen is the Samantha Dickson Brain Tumour Trust. They not only help to support families affected by brain tumours, but they are also the largest funder of brain tumour research. Their funding has lead to the discovery of the exact gene mutation that causes pilocytic astrocytomas. This will improve the speed of diagnosis, aid treatment and improve our understanding of the mechanisms of this cancer.<br><br>Ok, so the idea is to raise as much money as possible for SDBTT.</p>
<p>At the race, each of us will be doing something challenging and something that we've not attempted before. Something that is also worth talking about and worth our friends sponsoring us for!</p>
<p><br>More information can be found at <a href="http://www.sofia.lioubine.com">www.sofia.lioubine.com</a><br><br><br><br><em>Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.<br><br><strong><em>To help us achieve our goal we are looking for corporate and individual sponsorship and would be delighted if you can dig deep and support our team.</em> </strong></em></p>
<p><em><strong>Thank You!</strong></em></p>