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I'm doing a Classic distance triathlon in Swanage on 9th August. It involves a 1500 metre swim in the sea (gliding and rolling through the waves like a dolphin, of course), a 38.4km cycle (wiggins-the-wuss would never make it on my lower spec bike) and an 11 km run (my previous greatest running achievement was finally beating my brother in an eighty yard dash at the age of 18). 

I've never contemplated anything quite so ludicrous before.  I'm sure I was motivated partly by a mild case of mid-life crisis but more importantly, I'm doing it in memory of my mother-in-law, Anne, who wanted to give something back to the wonderful Mac Unit for their palliative care and expertise that made five years with Motor Neurone Disease so much more bearable for her than it would otherwise have been.  

MND (or ALS) is a progressive disease that attacks the motor neurones in the brain and spinal cord. This means messages gradually stop reaching muscles, which leads to weakness and wasting. It's a fatal disease for which no definitive cause has yet been established and no cure found.  Last year, the 'ice bucket challenge' did lots to raise awareness and lend support to the great research that's being done by the MND and ALS associations.  This work is of course vital if science is to succeed. 

However, in the meantime, support for palliative care for MND sufferers is crucial. It's a fast-progressing disease which is quickly debilitating, invariably leaving the sufferer unable to move or speak.  Anne became quickly skilled with the eye-gaze equipment which enabled her to communicate - a testament to her love of people.   When I told Anne last Christmas that I was thinking of easing the laughable tension I felt about having turned 40 by entering a triathlon, I asked her which charity she'd like me to raise money for.   MacMillan Caring Locally was her immediate choice.

Macmillan Caring Locally funds the running and staffing costs of "The Mac Unit", a specialist unit attached to the hospital in Christchurch near Bournemouth.  Anne attended weekly.  I visited the unit with Jo and her Dad after Anne passed away in February and it quickly became clear why she felt she owed them so much.  There is hard work and crucial medical expertise being administered round the clock, both to patients with MND and those with terminal cancer.  But there's also a great sense of fun and a remarkably palpaple, rich sense of the value of human life which explained to me Anne's eagerness for this great cause to be supported.  She was a brilliant, funny, generous and loving person; an avid celebrant of the human spirit, a spirit she engendered to the end against the odds and thanks in no small part to the Unit and the wonderful people she met there.

My target of £1,000 would pay for a day's running costs for the Unit and would feel like a really significant contribution.  It's very ambitious, I know and the Unit will, of course, be delighted to recieve any donations, however small. Thanks for your time!

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