Join us to run, walk, swim or cycle 5000 miles to help raise awareness of Motor Neurone Disease.
Many of you will know Neil Mustoe, he’s been a familiar face around the club since he joined in 2015. During that time, he has competed for the club, helped at events, and helped to lead many of our Beginner courses. He encapsulates what it means to be a club member.
Earlier this year Neil was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease, a fatal, rapidly progressing disease that affects the brain and spinal cord (read more below). Despite this, Neil and his partner Helen are taking on the Virtual London Marathon in a wheelchair, on the weekend of 3rd and 4th October. They’ve set up a JustGiving page for anyone who wishes to sponsor them (link below), and nearer the time we will be giving details of how HRC is going to support them that weekend.
But we want to do more than that, and that’s where HRC Mission 5000 comes in!
When I spoke to Neil this week, he told me how important it is to him, to raise awareness of MND. He, like most of us I expect, didn’t really know much about it until he was diagnosed with it. He was shocked to learn that a person’s lifetime risk of developing MND is 1:300.
He pointed me in the direction of a virtual event – Mission 5000 – which is being run by the MND Association. The charity is looking for individuals to sign up to run, walk, swim, cycle or even scoot, as far as they can. Their overall target is to cover 5,000 miles, that’s a mile for every person living with MND in the UK today.
We could have settled for doing a few miles to help them over the line, but we know how much you lot love a mileage challenge! So, our crazy idea is to do our own Mission 5000, where we aim to complete 5000 miles as a club! We have until Saturday 18th October to complete the challenge, and all miles will get logged on the official Mission 5000 website. You don’t have to pay to enter or raise sponsorship, because raising awareness is the name of the game. But anyone who raises £100 will receive a medal from the charity.
You can help raise awareness about MND by sharing details of your runs, walks, rides etc on social media and tagging the official Mission 5000 website. The club will aim to get local press coverage, as well as working with the MND Association to get the story out on their social media channels.
So, what do I have to do?
- You don’t have to sign up to the official Mission 5000 challenge, but if you do it will mean that your miles count towards their total as well as ours.
- You don’t need to log every activity separately; you can wait till the end and then submit your personal total at https://www.mndassociation.org/get-involved/fundraising/fundraising-events/mission-5000/
- The official Mission 5000 started on Saturday 13th Sept, and you can include any activities you’ve already done since then.
- To help us keep tally on our own 5000-mile challenge, please add your miles in the comments section, or email me if you’re not on Facebook.
What is Motor Neurone Disease?
- MND is a fatal, rapidly progressing disease that affects the brain and spinal cord.
- It attacks the nerves that control movement so muscles no longer work. MND does not usually affect the senses such as sight, sound, feeling etc.
- It can leave people locked in a failing body, unable to move, talk and eventually breathe.
- Over 80% of people with MND will have communication difficulties, including for some, a complete loss of voice.
- It affects people from all communities.
- It kills a third of people within a year and more than half within two years of diagnosis, although if you get through that you can live for up to 50 years.
- A person’s lifetime risk of developing MND is around 1 in 300.
- Six people per day are diagnosed with MND in the UK.
- It affects up to 5,000 adults in the UK at any one time.
- It kills six people per day in the UK, this is just under 2,200 per year.
- It has no cure
If you want to sponsor Neil and Helen in their Virtual London Marathon, you can make your pledge here.