Daniel Knott
Stafford to Paris Ergathlon page
Fundraising for Make 2nds Count
Story
Come join us on Tuesday the 12th of July from 07:00hrs onwards at Staffordshire Police HQ for our Ergathlon to Disneyland Paris.
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Lisa's story
For those of you who don't know me I’m Lisa, I’m 36 and have been in the police for 15.5 years, serving the last 8 years as a detective and prior to that working on response.
I have 2 boys, Ace and Jax who are 2 and 6 and they are utterly adorable and challenging in equal measure. Jax is a really sensitive boy who feels everything with his whole heart. He’s 100% a Mummy's boy and when he’s not throwing a Hulk style rage you will find him just staring at me adoringly or telling me how beautiful I am. He is the ultimate ego booster and I fully encourage it 
I’m married to a lovely man, Jordan who is a one-man-band plumber and he completes the awesome foursome.
In 2020 when Ace was 6 months old I started to have some pain in my elbow. Fast forward to August that year and I was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer. An aggressive cancer which had spread to my lymph nodes. I had 6 months of treatment, 3 operations and 15 sessions of radiotherapy and was declared ‘no evidence of disease’ at the beginning of May 2021.
This year 3 weeks off my 1 year anniversary of being cancer free, following 3 seizures at home I was admitted to hospital and told that the cancer had spread to my brain, known as secondary breast cancer and there was no cure, but I would be on ‘palliative’ treatment for as long as it will work. This was an absolute bombshell. I had cyberknife radiation to my brain in April and we will find out how the tumour has responded at the end of July with a brain MRI. I spent the first 6 weeks following my secondary diagnosis pretty much off my feet. It’s amazing how quickly your health can take a nosedive. But I have continued to do what I can and sought out alternative therapies to try and prolong my life by whatever means possible, even if this means thinking outside of the NHS box. My health is picking up and I can do regular Mum things with the boys again more recently which is ultimately my aim. To be here to mother my children for as long as I can, something which the average person takes for granted.
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Make 2nds Count
On July 12th some very dedicated/daft work colleagues are doing a 24hr Ergothon (hard static bike, ski and row) and aim to cover the distance of 345 miles which is from Stafford to Disneyland (as the crow flies) due to this being one of the places on my life list that I want to take the boys.
They are doing this for the charity Make 2nds Count, a charity which is closer to me now more than ever.
Make 2nds Count’s mission is to fund secondary breast cancer research which contributes to advancing an increased quality of life for patients.
Medical research supports clinical trials which can give patients access to potentially life-saving access to drugs that could keep them alive for longer.
Secondary breast cancer, also known as metastatic, advanced or stage IV breast cancer, is a cancer that has spread beyond the breast to other parts of the body. It occurs when the initial breast cancer cells (primary breast cancer) spread through the bloodstream or lymphatic system to other parts of the body.
Parts of the body affected are usually the bones, liver, lungs, brain or the skin
Secondary breast cancer can be treated but it cannot be cured. Treatments aim to control and slow down the disease to enable patients to have the best possible quality of life for as long as possible.
The average life expectancy of a secondary breast cancer patient once diagnosed is between two and three years. It is estimated that approximately 12,000 people a year die from the disease.
So although people may think ‘oh fundraising for another charity’ this charity has the potential to make a difference not only to thousands of women diagnosed with secondary breast cancer, but specifically to me. It could fund research into a drug which may give me another a year or if we dare to dream, many many more. Ace is 2 years old and Jax is 6. Statistics would state I may not get to watch them turn 5 and 9. They would still just be babies. I need charities like M2C so that I have the opportunity to be here for as long as possible, whilst simultaneously ticking experiences off my life list so that my boys and family and I can treasure some special moments. The juggling act is REAL.
Just this week an article has been published in relation to a molecule called ERX-41 which wipes out hard to treat cancer cells and trials may be available as early as next year. Charities like M2C advocate for women like me to get access to such trials.
The team is headed up by Dan whom I’ve not asked to do this, he has contacted me and pitched his idea. My response was along the lines of provided as long as I’m not cycling anywhere, crack on and thank you!
So please take a look at his just giving page. I'll make him promise to post sweaty updates and to bleep out any bad language
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Forward from Dan and the team
Having followed Lisa's story over the last couple of years, a group of like minded fitness enthusiasts (granted some with dad bods) wanted to create an event to raise awareness of Secondary Breast Cancer and to generate some money via charity donations for a deserving cause, Make 2nds Count, on behalf of Lisa.
With that in mind, we hatched a plan to carry out a fitness based feat relevant to Lisa... That's when we noticed that part of her to do list was to take her boys Ace & Jax for a Disneyland Superhero Summer!
Now I didn't concentrate enough at maths at school, so I got some smarterer people to do some number crunching for me, based on the distance as the crow flies from Staffordshire Police HQ to Disneyland Paris, which is 345 miles.
So we have 3 bits of kit:
1. Concept2 SkiErg
2. Concept2 RowErg
3. Concept2 BikeErg
Using all of the above, which is called an 'Ergathlon', 9 core team members will complete the distance of 345 miles as quick as possible. Conservative estimates, if we push it hard, point to around 9+hrs... Obviously if we fall off the pace, then it's going to be a little longer. We did have some rather ambitious ideas, such as Matt C suggesting we did the circumference of the earth, which is 24,901 miles... It appears that Matt is even more rubbish at maths than me. But don't knock his enthusiasm!
Team 1 - THE WOLF PACK. Matt H, Mat B & JK
Team 2 - SPARTANS. Jim M, Dave W & Jimmy F
Team 3 - GUNSLINGERS. Dan K, Matt C & Joe F
Each team will have 1hr on the kit, before rotating to the next piece of kit, until the distance is complete. The team can divide that hour as they deem fit, as long as each member is putting in an equal time.
Along with the core 9, we will hopefully be having additional guest participants taking part, including Lisa's husband Jordan. This will give us all time to get a little bit of food down us and hopefully reduce any chance of anyone vomming on the kit.