Hello everyone, thanks for visiting my page.

This year I'm going to be taking on an epic challenge known as the Enduroman Arch2Arc (London to Paris) triathlon. Only 55 people have ever completed this event, 6 of those without a wetsuit. I will be attempting to complete this in September 2024, and hopefully be the 7th person in history to do this without a wetsuit:

Run - 87 miles from London to Dover.

Swim - 21 miles across the English Channel

Cycle - 180 miles to Paris

I am doing this to raise money for a local cause that I'm very passionate about. Sam Perkins is an amazing man who is a similar age to me and has a love of triathlon, but sadly got diagnosed with MND at the young age of just 37. This is truly devasting for Sam, his friends and family, as there is currently no cure. But Sam has shown amazing strength and courage and has used his time to create a MND charity, raising money for much needed research and care of local MND patients. Sam is an absolute inspiration to me, and I will look to achieve his levels of mental strength as I train for and attempt this massive challenge.

All sponsorship is based on your good faith that I will TRAIN HARD and ATTEMPT this challenge. There are so many variables, weather in the English Channel being the biggest, that this is more of an adventure than a sporting event, and the success rate is not high. 55 people have completed this in 22 years, since Edgar Ette first launched this challenge. Thank you for any sponsorship which will go 100% directly to Sam's MND charity.

I am also linking my challenge with Sam Perkins 50/50 campaign which aims to raise the overall profile of MND and the need for research. Sadly, when you're diagnosed with MND there's a 50/50 chance you will die within just 2 years. Investment in research is the best way to change that. Having studied for my own PhD in a field where I hoped to enable future medical benefit (but career took me elsewhere), I am really excited by the fact that Sam's charity, along with the MND Association take part in funding medical research. One PhD student is currently based at the University of Nottingham. I love the fact this is a local person, local cause, local research and local care.

The other link to MND is the fact that I'm a Yorkshire lad, and a life-long Leeds Rhinos Rugby League fan, having grown up as a season ticket holder and going to watch matches with my family at Headingley. Seeing what Rob Burrow and Kevin Sinfield, 2 of my childhood heros have achieved in raising the awareness of MND is inspirational, and this is yet another reason why I find a strong connection with this great cause.

Thank you for any support you can give, this is much appreciated by Sam, myself and the MND community.

Paul

If you would like to follow my 50-week training journey, you can find my weekly updates on instagram at 'arch2arcjourney'. As of writing this (25 Feb) I have just completed week 23, and training albeit very hard, is going to plan. Thanks again for everyone's support :-)

I am funding the cost of the challenge myself, but if any local businesses would like to get in touch, I would be happy to discuss collaborating and further raising the awareness of Sam's charity. Some of my largest costs are actually nutrition products, as I can be eating over 30,000Kcal a week to fuel 15 - 20 hours of training. I am also going through swim/cycle/running kit at a hell of a pace, as I am using my gear twice a day to train. So my kit is wearing out much faster than normal.