Story

LIVE TRACKING:

https://live.opentracking.co.uk/thamesring2025/

On Wednesday 23rd April 2025 at 10am I'll be attempting to run the Thames Ring 250 mile ultra run and I'll be running for a charity that is important to my family Microtia UK.

This will be my second attempt as I entered last year and failed at 31 hours...

About the challenge...

The Thames Ring 250 is an iconic 250 mile trail race starting in Streatley-on-Thames and following an anti-clockwise loop East along the Thames, up the Grand Union Canal and back to the Thames via the Oxford canal before returning to the start in Streatley.

The route is almost entirely on canal and riverside paths and runners have 100 hours (4 days 4 hours) to complete the run, navigating using maps, gpx files and being supported by checkpoints every 25 miles or so.

It’s an extremely tough run, testing runners endurance to the limit with many long hours with little sleep and dark nights.

The first race of this distance in the UK and for many years the longest non-stop race in Europe.

I've linked my Strava account to record the main run and I'm hoping that I'll be able to complete the route and make the checkpoints. I'll upload the GPS tracking beacon on the day for anyone interested in live progress and also try to upload a few Facebook live updates along the way.

https://challenge-running.com/thames-ring-250/

About Ava and her Microtia

As some of you may know, my daughter Ava was born with unilateral Microtia affecting her right ear. In simple terms, her outer ear and ear canal did not develop properly, resulting in a ‘little’ ear and almost complete hearing loss on her right side. This was something which didn’t show up on any ultrasound and came as a surprise to us when Ava was born. Despite being a completely normal, happy girl in every aspect of life, Ava’s Microtia means that she often has to work twice as hard in a lot of settings – from being at school to crowded shopping centres or other noisy environments, she can lose her spatial awareness quite easily and find certain loud sounds distressing.

For that reason, Ava occasionally wears a bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA) and, under the care of Great Ormond Street Hospital, will have the option of surgery in later childhood to potentially reconstruct her outer ear, provide a more permanently fixed hearing aid, both, or neither - depending on what she decides.

Ava is now 10 years old and an amazing little girl that her mother and I love more than anything. We love her little ear and wouldn't change anything about her. She's a kind, sweet natured girl who loves to get involved in absolutely everything and we really couldn't be prouder of what an exceptional little lady she is growing up to be.

About the Charity

Microtia UK is a registered charity that is dedicated to providing support, information and resources to those affected by Microtia. Thanks to this support we, as parents, were able to quickly understand Ava’s condition, her options in the future and as a result, avoid feeling overwhelmed. This allowed us to enjoy every moment of her early life, love her ‘little’ ear and focus on bringing her up to be the funny, confident, capable and intelligent little girl we are so very proud of - equipped, thanks to Microtia UK to support her in the challenges and choices she may face.

Should you decide to donate money or simply share and like posts that raise awareness of this cause, it's all greatly appreciated by Laura, Ava and myself so thank you!

Any donations you can spare go directly to the charity Microtia UK.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Here's a link to the Microtia UK website: