Ok after all the amazing fund raising challenges and charity events our family and friends have done over the last 13 months in memory of Chris and in support for Millie his daughter and raising money for ERUK  it is now my turn to give something back and raise money for ERUK and also raise awareness of "SUDEP"

As many of you know, my son Chris Allinson passed away in his sleep on November 8th 2018, aged 28. We lost Chris as a result of ‘SUDEP’ - Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy. Sometimes a person with epilepsy dies during or following a seizure for no apparent reason. SUDEP is incredibly uncommon, in the UK over half a million people suffer from epilepsy, only 600 people die a year from SUDEP. 

Upon hearing the news of his passing, his consultant at the James Cook Hospital was very shocked and said “there was no reason that Chris couldn’t have lived till he was 90 years old especially as he only had maybe 1 or 2 seizures a year,to say he was unlucky is a massive understatement.”. Death from SUDEP is thought to be in some case's  unavoidable and at this moment in time there is no definite reason why it happens. Raising money for Epilepsy research UK who fund extensive research into SUDEP will hopefully one day discover a breakthrough and stop other families from going through the heartbreak and devastation that we are experiencing losing a loved one and watching our Granddaughter grow up without her Daddy.💙💚

To raise money for ERUK myself and good friend Dave Moore ( who was also a good friend of Chris's ) are going to ride the Mallorca 167 Sportive which is part of the Mallorca 312 cycling festival on April the 25th 2020. ( Now 10th October due to Covid 19 Pandemic ).It is a 104 mile bike ride around the Tramuntana mountains which stretch the full length of the North coast of Majorca. It includes over 8000 feet of climbing at an average gradient of 6%.It is a very popular event with 8000 riders taking part, next years event sold out in 13 hours and it attracts many well known riders including Alberto Contador and Miguel Indurain. The main event is the 312 which is 194 miles and over 16000 feet of climbing and the riders have 14 hrs to complete it to earn their Jersey and medal.So our aim is to ride the 167 half the main event in around 7 hours which we think is a hard but achievable challenge especially for myself now I'm closer to 60 than 50. 

As you can see in the pictures attached, last year my son, Dan, ran the GNR for ERUK in the same shorts and shoes that Chris wore when he ran the GNR in 2017. He didn't wear the pink compression socks that Chris wore because in Dan's words "they are brutal". Being the only thing I could wear when doing the ride, I am going to wear the brutal pink socks as an homage to Chris. Every time I look down at the road I'll see the socks and know he's with me all the way.💙💚

If you would like to track our training progress, follow us on Strava 

Thank you all for reading my story,Any donation however small will make a difference in the future to someone's life.

Len & Dave 

Epilepsy Research UK is the only charity exclusively dedicated to driving and enabling life changing, life saving research in the UK. Our pioneering funded research is currently being carried out in over 40 universities and hospitals throughout the country. The projects we fund are of the highest scientific merit and aim to provide help for today and hope for tomorrow. A life free from epilepsy is possible. The only way to achieve this is through research.