Inspired by my (half) brother Alastair's incredible 50-mile run and fundraiser (see below), I'm stepping up to help build on the funds he raised for MDS UK and taking over his Just Giving page.

On 17th and 18th May I'll take part in the Jurassic Coast challenge and walk 100K continuously through the day and night.

Ali's mum, Sue, was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) in Summer 2024. It's a cancer that affects the bone marrow, that is basically the blood factory. Ali has raised a lot so far, and everything we raise on top will go towards helping people like Sue and supporting families as they navigate this tough and often overwhelming illness.

The walk will be a REALLY MASSIVE challenge for me and my friends Camille, Sandra and Fiona. I love walking but the furthest I've been without stopping is 42k, so this is going to be a huge personal milestone.

Thanks so much for reading and giving your support - it really means a lot.

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Ali's post from April:

Hello wonderful people! Thank you for visiting my just giving page, raising money for MDS UK.

My Mum was diagnosed with MDS in the Summer of 2024 after a long period of time with increased tiredness, shortness of breath and many trips back and forth to the GP.

MDS stands for myelodysplastic syndrome. It’s a cancer that affects the bone marrow which is basically, the blood factory. It affects your haemoglobin, your red blood cells which carry oxygen around the body and give you energy to get up and go. It affects your platelets, the part of your blood that helps with repairing cuts, grazes and bruises and it affects your white cells, the part of the blood that fights infections such as bacteria and viruses.

It’s a slow growing condition but has a roughly 50% five year mortality rate; in other words, half of people with the condition will sadly have passed away five years from their date of diagnosis.

There are many different types but Mum’s is a slowly evolving one. Her main symptom is overwhelming fatigue so at the moment she sleeps a lot! Her MDS is unlikely to respond to chemotherapy or immunotherapy so her treatment involves erythropoietin (EPO) injections to stimulate the bone marrow, and blood transfusions. Sadly it looks like the EPO injections are beginning to be less effective and she’s moving onto blood transfusions.

MDS UK is a patient support charity. While the big cancer charities do incredible work for research, MDS UK is a small charity that focuses on supporting patients with their diagnosis in terms of education. It means that your funding will go to things such as:

-Funding a patient support phone line

-Help to organise patient focus groups

-Fund the production and printing of patient information leaflets

Mum has already used the charity for support several times to navigate through this uncertain time and I know that her and other patients affected will be calling them for advice in the future.

They need your help more than ever so please donate!

More information about the charity: https://mdspatientsupport.org.uk

What am I doing you ask, well I’m going to run the South Downs Way 50 Miles (Elevation: 5700ft) from Worthing to Eastbourne on Saturday the 12th of April!

More information about the race: https://www.centurionrunning.com/races/south-downs-way-50-2025

There have been lots of early starts, gym sessions, injuries, cold days and nights all to gear up for the big day!

Training races so far have been:

New Forest Marathon 27miles (Big Feat Events) Sunday 4th December: Elevation 1788ft: 3hrs, 42mins

Hibernal Hills Ultra 34miles (UK Ultra) Saturday 8th of February: Elevation 4633ft: 5hrs, 13mins.

To up the ante for the fundraising, please donate now! However, I’m aiming to finish in under 10 hours…

If finish in under 10, can you come back to the page to send some more cash for MDS UK?!

Thanks for your time

Take care

Ali