Christopher Allen
Brick Runners
Fundraising for Spinal Research
Story
If you’re looking to become a BrickRunner then please head over to www.BrickRunners.com
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WHY SPINAL RESEARCH
In 2009 I fell down a flight of stairs and fractured my T6/7/8 vertebrae. I spent six months walking with crutches and a cane and going to physical therapy. In 2016 I decided I needed something to work towards when my brother challenged me to run a marathon. 24 hours later I had signed up to run London Marathon 2017 for Spinal Research. I started running for Spinal Research, because I’m lucky enough to still be walking. Some people aren’t as lucky as me, and three people every day are told they’ll never walk again. With 50,000 people paralysed due to spinal cord injury and an estimated 2.5 million worldwide, this only highlights why the work Spinal Research do is so important, especially as they receive no Government funding.
HOW DID BRICKRUNNERS START
In 2018 my friend and fellow Spinal Research ambassador, Eric Keeler, ran across the US; from Lubec, Maine to Santa Monica, California; taking with him a small lego version of himself. Over 8 months I started illustrating Lego Eric’s journey and he slowly evolved from hand drawn cartoons to a digital mascot, soon to be joined by myself and Robin Plowman. Skip to May 2019 and I was looking for a way to meet my fundraising target for Berlin Marathon so as a way of saying thanks to supporters I started illustrating everyone as their very own BrickRunner. It wasn’t long before a few people turned into a sponsorship from the National Running Show and a growing community of BrickRunners.
To find out more about BrickRunners, visit www.brickrunners.com
———————
WHY SPINAL RESEARCH
In 2009 I fell down a flight of stairs and fractured my T6/7/8 vertebrae. I spent six months walking with crutches and a cane and going to physical therapy. In 2016 I decided I needed something to work towards when my brother challenged me to run a marathon. 24 hours later I had signed up to run London Marathon 2017 for Spinal Research. I started running for Spinal Research, because I’m lucky enough to still be walking. Some people aren’t as lucky as me, and three people every day are told they’ll never walk again. With 50,000 people paralysed due to spinal cord injury and an estimated 2.5 million worldwide, this only highlights why the work Spinal Research do is so important, especially as they receive no Government funding.
HOW DID BRICKRUNNERS START
In 2018 my friend and fellow Spinal Research ambassador, Eric Keeler, ran across the US; from Lubec, Maine to Santa Monica, California; taking with him a small lego version of himself. Over 8 months I started illustrating Lego Eric’s journey and he slowly evolved from hand drawn cartoons to a digital mascot, soon to be joined by myself and Robin Plowman. Skip to May 2019 and I was looking for a way to meet my fundraising target for Berlin Marathon so as a way of saying thanks to supporters I started illustrating everyone as their very own BrickRunner. It wasn’t long before a few people turned into a sponsorship from the National Running Show and a growing community of BrickRunners.
To find out more about BrickRunners, visit www.brickrunners.com