Thank you so much for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. At a time of continuing austerity and individual difficulties, I really appreciate any support you feel able to give.

New Events!

2024

August 2024: Paris Olympics!

I was contacted in April by the Paris '24 organisers and offered the chance to run a unique event; a marathon course on the route taken by the elite Olympic athletes, both men and women, on the night of Saturday 10th Aug! I felt so incredibly lucky to be given this opportunity! Between 2019 and 2024, 400,000 amateur people tried their luck to win a race bib. Runners came from all over the world, representing 150 countries from 5 continents, often accumulating hundreds of training runs, covering thousands of kilometres each. Personally, I successfully completed over 60 challenges and ran for 19,500km - a distance equal to halfway round the world! The bib to run was one of the last remaining.

And so, at 10pm and in very high temperatures, I lined up at the start line with 20,024 other multinational runners. As with the elites, the race set off from the square in front of the Hôtel de Ville, went out to to the Château de Versailles, before finishing on the Esplanade des Invalides. The route was described as "totally unprecedented" in its toughness due to the amount of incline, with gradients reaching 16% at times! We were also running at night, but were promised light spectacles and plenty of entertainment en route, not to mention the fact that we were running past some of the most iconic Parisian landmarks.

I think this was one of the hardest things that I have ever undertaken. I couldn't train as much as a marathon requires due to my ongoing foot injury, as well as an infection in the weeks leading up to me flying out. The heat and the terrain were brutal. However, I crossed that finish line in the middle of the night on the Saturday/Sunday, and the experience of being part of the Games will stay with me forever.

I am now holding a cake stall and sweepstake with the chance to guess my marathon time - with a small hamper of goodies up for grabs for the person guessing the closest!

May 2024: MNDA 6K in May Swim Challenge

As my marathon dream was doused and I started the slow injury recovery process, the MNDA launched a new swim challenge for the month of May! I decided to channel my energies positively and so I took it on with gusto! I managed to swim a total of 26.2km in just over the month - a metric marathon in recognition and thanks for the donations I'd received.

London Marathon 2024 (Sunday 21 April)

After 7 years of unsuccessful attempts to get a ballot place in the London Marathon, this year I was in! Training was relentless from the start of 2024. This proved far from easy in a long winter of wind, rain and a waterlogged landscape, but with Spring around the corner, I was determined to give this event my best effort, as well as to raise more valuable funds for the amazing work done by the MNDA.

Then the worst happen - injury, and a suspected stress fracture of my foot. The marathon dream was gone. However, the incredible support that I subsequently received from both my local and the wider MNDA community has been second to none and touched me deeply.

I will be back, as they say!

Past Events:

2023

1-7 December 2023 - 7 in 7 Challenge!

Run 7 miles / Bike 7 miles / Swim 1 mile

Following in the footsteps of Kevin Sinfield and his awe-inspiring new ultra challenge, I created my own mini 7 in 7 challenge, to complete a triathlon each day for 7 days!

The goal was to raise £77 + for the MNDA. Despite atrocious weather, and still recovering from a broken shoulder, I completed all 7 days with a mini triathlon each day.

In total I raised over £500 by running a total of 55 miles, cycling 70 miles and swimming a mile each day totally 50 miles in the water - exhausted but thrilled!

2022

I decided to spend 12 months undertaking a series of seven challenges in the hope of raising as much as I can for Motor Neurone Disease Association. This will go directly to supporting people diagnosed and affected with this currently incurable disease. Motor Neurone Disease (MND) is a fatal, rapidly progressing disease affecting the brain and spinal cord and it currently kills a third of all people within a year of diagnosis. Six people are diagnosed every day and six people die every day of motor neurone disease.

Approximately 3 years ago, my sister began to develop worrying neurological symptoms affecting her balance, mobility and cognitive function. Having been very fit and active for her entire life, running at county level in her teenage years, she now struggles to walk her much loved dog in a coordinated, safe way.

Sadly, after more than a year of medical tests and a difficult wait to reveal the exact nature of her neuro degenerative disease, she was confirmed as having Motor Neurone Disease. I therefore planned to embark on my own series of physical challenges and undertook seven events to coincide with my 50th year;

19 June 2022 - a half marathon in our home city of Plymouth.

9 July 2022 - a 55k ultra in Ambleside in the Lake District.

30 July 2022 - the Lakeland 50 (50 miles)

10 September 2022 - the 100k Thames Path Ultra Challenge through London.

14 May 2023 - the first MND Rob Burrow marathon (Leeds)