Jamie's Three Mealls 18k Trail Race and The Spartan Beast
Jamie Connelly is raising money for The Brain Tumour Charity
Participants: Alex Norrie
Story
In December 2016 I was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Here is my story...I was hospitalised following a seizure in November three days after my 36th birthday. I met with a Neurologist at a first fit clinic and was sent for a routine MRI and told to expect nothing to show up on the scan. On 28/12/16, everything changed as the world I knew was turned on its head. I received news that I had a brain tumour. In February 2017 I underwent a craniotomy to debulk the majority of the tumour (a part had spread into an area of my brain that the surgeon was uncomfortable trying to remove). The surgery removed 50% plus of the tumour. After a three week wait, biopsy results confirmed I have an incurable glioma tumour.
I started a course of radiotherapy, every day for 6 weeks and then I endured 10 months of chemotherapy. That phase of treatment is for now over however in December 2020 I was diagnosed with another unrelated primary cancer - testicular cancer! I have had surgery and a round of chemo for this and now hopefully I have hit a run of good health! The plan had been to do 10k but being the mad man that he is Norrie convinced me to do the Spartan Beast, a half-marathon with 30 obstacles.
Norrie has also had his own troubles to bear over the years and he is still recovering from ACL reconstruction with meniscus repair - this tells you the measure of the man! I couldn't be happier than doing the Spartan Beast with this man. I know that any doubt and notion to quit will be put to bed by him very quickly. The Three Mealls race which takes place in Glencoe and has 700m elevation was added to this challenge early this year so it is going to be an incredibly challenging week.
Any help or donation would be greatly appreciated as brain tumours are the least researched and funded cancers in the UK despite being the no.1 cancer killer of under-40s.