Story
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I'm running for MS in aid of my Dad, Paul, who was diagnosed when he was just 32 years old! I asked Dad to write a few notes about his diagnosis and experience with MS. He obliged;
Having reached a good level as a hockey player and a keen tennis player, it was frustrating when, at the age of only 32, I developed a blur in my left eye, with my right eye going the same way if I did any sort of exertion for more than 2 or 3 minutes! An MRI scan and two appointments with a top notch Neurologist, confirmed that I had MS. Having no idea what MS was, a visit to WH Smiths at Waterloo Station on my way home from Harley Street, provided me with access to a Medical Dictionary and an explanation of what MS was….and is!
Hockey and Tennis careers came to an abrupt end, but at a further meeting with my Specialist, I asked if there was anything I shouldn’t do. He laughed, “well” he said,” I wouldn’t go running any Marathons….!!” BAD ADVICE, it was like an inadvertent challenge to me, and so I started running: 5 and 10Ks at first, then Half Marathons, and then finally, in 2003, the New York Marathon…!!! I came 19,647th out of nearly 35,000 runners, so it wasn’t an elite performance, but to me, the achievement was all I wanted for myself; just to prove I could do it ( with the help of my 18 year old son Ben, who delivered Bananas along the route, and my old friend Whittaker who ran with me and encouraged me all the way!).
My running days are now over, but Ben runs regularly……and runs for me and the MS Society in this year’s Royal Parks Half Marathon, so please support him, in his attempt to make his Old Man feel better…..thanx everyone, it means a lot!!
For more information on MS please click the link https://www.mssociety.org.uk/