175Km of trail ultra marathons For Cancer Research UK - 25km | 50km | 100Km 3-part Ultra-Marathon 

*UPDATE Pt3 - 100km Jurassic Coast (Ultramarathon #2) on 21st/22nd May 2021

*UPDATE Pt2 - 52km Done (Ultramarathon #1) on 3rd April 2021!*

*Update: Pt 1 - 25km Done on 19th Jan* 2020 (The Ultra's delayed due to Covid restrictions)

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page and I ask that you please read my story, while being so very grateful for any support you are willing to give...

The 'Why'

It's more about my wife's story, as well as our journey as a family, because 7 years ago my wife was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer at only 38 years old. With a 50/50 survival rate, she, along with so many other women, took on and endured savage treatment in her fight against it:

• 4 Months Chemo + 10 years of Tamoxifen 
• 12 Months Herceptin
• Full Mastectomy and Major Lymph Node removal surgery
• 6 Weeks daily radiotherapy
• 3 reconstructive surgeries (including LDFlap reconstruction altering her back muscles forever)

Sam showed the will to fight without ever quitting, and the work by Cancer Research saved her life.

To achieve this meant an entire reconstruction of the way she lived her life. From the years of surgery, and recovery from treatment/medication; to the fact that she put herself through even further agony (I've been told 'cold caps' are about the most painful thing you can experience) just to keep her hair, in order that our children wouldn't be too scared to see their mummy so ill due to hair loss.

Cancer is a f*cking nasty disease... it takes the lives of too many, and savages the lives of too many more. 

As I write this I have friends in the midst of their own fights with this awful disease. One with Bowel Cancer and Stage 4 Lymphoma, another with stage 3 Breast Cancer, and another battling stage 3 cancer in the lung. Ladies only in their 40s, and in their prime. Families who have had a hand-grenade detonated in their lives. 

A stark reality is that 1 in 2 people will now get Cancer in their lifetime. That's half your friends. That's half your children. That's half your parents. That's either your or your partner.

Right now you don't get to choose that flip of the coin. Cancer does. And it affects us all.

This said, we are the lucky ones. Sam survived. Many more didn't. She watched friends she had made during treatment lose their struggle and eventually pass away. Young and old, some with little children of their own. Stolen from their loved ones, with so much potential that will now be unfulfilled. 

Even after, it doesn't go away. Not really. We still live with the specter of Cancer hanging over us. Even overcoming it, it's always there. It hangs in the background. The wondering if it might return and steal her away like it does to many others. The years of fear and anxiety, and those dark moments of 'what if'.

This is where I join the fight once again... Very humbled and grateful for the support and donations given to me on my last insane challenge that almost broke me in 2019. I'm entirely resolute that this challenge, despite being the single hardest physical and mental challenge I have ever taken on (by a long way), will beat the £2000 we raised to beat this cruel disease two years ago.

So, if you're with me in fighting Cancer in all its forms then please read on and I'll explain what I am doing that is even crazier than what I did before...

The 'What'

In 2019 I completed my first 50km and 100Km ultra-marathon non-stop hikes for Cancer Research UK. The last being 34 hours of non-stop hiking on one of the most stunning coastlines in the world... our very own Jurassic coast. 

This coming May I intend to run it!.. (though Covid stopped it from being last year)

Starting with: a 25km half marathon in January 2020, (successfully completed!) a 50km ultra in April 2021 (now successfully completed)... and then the 100Km Jurassic Coast Challenge once again (May)

To put this challenge in perspective, in June 2019, 1400 people entered for the full 100km Jurassic continuous (running and hiking)... only 500 finished it. Most being broken on either the insane hills of Swyre Head/Bats Head/Durdle Door and 'The Wall' (Arish Mell) all of which hit you after you have already run a trail marathon distance; or left crying on the 8km of shingle that hits us after 80Km at Chesil Beach.

My point is this is a brutal and unforgiving course. I'm intending to avoid the helicopter airlifts, broken ankles, infected blisters, monstrous bloody chafing, skinned feet, dislocated knees, and being blown off Swyre Head to roll 200ft to the bottom (all of which happened to others doing this same course last year). And now I'm aiming to run it, when half fail to complete it hiking.

So here are some stats...

• 175Km total distance in a total of only 40hrs (my target is 100km in 24 hours for the final event in the three runs)
• 280,000+ steps (150,000 in 24+ hours in the last 100km challenge alone)
• 40,000 Calories burned in 3 events (25,000+ in the JCC 100km alone)

Why this is especially hard for me....

Some people are built to run... I am not... yet

I start from Zero again in Jan 2021 with just 5 months training to get ready for this event, due to serious issues with my ankle achilles and calf. This is less time than training for a normal marathon. And as a former front-row rugby forward I'm built for picking heavy sh!t up. Not running 100km (almost 3 marathons, back to back), on sand, shingle and small mountains.

I do this with:

• a starting weight of 112kg December 2020 (though I've now dropped my weight to 96kg as of 1st May)
• recovering from a grade 2 achilles tendon rupture 
• recovering from a broken left ankle in sept 20
• dealing with bursitis, heel spur and achilles tendinosis
• Haglund's heel (left)
• Peroneal tendon damage in my left leg
  

All of which means that I need to completely rehabilitate my current injuries; drop about 20Kg / 45 Ibs in excess weight (3.5 stone); entirely rewire how I run entirely... And all the while, still train to be able to run a 100km continuous (i.e. no sleep) ultra-marathon that nearly killed me simply walking it only two summers ago... and in only 24 weeks of training

This is going to be easily the hardest thing I have ever done, but I will make the same promise I made in 2019.... I will keep going until I can't.

Yes, I'm nervous. Given I am entirely the opposite of an ultra-marathon runner, it is genuinely something that risks some severe and permanent damage to myself if I get this wrong. I've been told by my physio things like permanent joint damage, nerve damage, and even kidney failure are some of the risks involved... so I'm taking it seriously.

I take this on to show my support for all the courage, effort and bravery shown by my wife; my friends; the millions of people fighting this disease right now; and for the countless people who have this fight still to come. I will complete this for all those who have to battle against a ticking clock to do what it takes to fight, survive, recover and transform themselves in order to beat Cancer.

Cancer Research UK helped saved my wife's life. They are starting to beat this cruel disease. That's a fact. CRUK lead the world in research and created medicines that have saved my wife's life and given my children their mother back, along with more people than ever before. THEY ARE TURNING THE TIDE! please support me in helping them ensure that other women, men and children get to grow up with their loved ones too. 

Please donate and I promise you I will finish this thing....

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