I have been raising funds for Macmillan since 2016, in memory of my mum Julie Johnson who sadly died due to ovarian cancer in 2000. Macmillan, and particularly mum's Macmillan nurse Judy, were a great support not only to mum but also our family. They offered emotional and practical support, making the incredibly difficult time of dealing with her terminal prognosis that bit more bearable.

I started by completing a 10k run in 2016, and this has seemed to snowball slightly out of control, leading to me completing Ironman Wales in September 2019, a 2.4 mile swim followed by a 112 mile cycle and a 26.2 mile run. My family, wife Sara and daughter Amy, have also been involved and so far we have raised over £11,500 for this great charity. 

To increase the challenge even further in 2020 I planned to embark upon something that had never been done before in this format - a triathlon from John O'Groats to Land's End (JOGLE). The aim was to swim 2 miles, cycle 80 miles and run 18 miles each day. 9 days, 9 triathlons, 900 miles. During the 900 miles I would have been climbing the equivalent of 29,000 ft, roughly the height of Mount Everest, and this is where the fundraising target has come from - £29,000.

It costs £29 to provide an hour of Macmillan nursing, and my dream is to provide 1,000 hours of Macmillan nursing. This is 1,000 hours of the sort of fantastic support that mum and our family received, and it will really make a difference to people who have just had their lives turned on their heads due to a cancer diagnosis.

Having already raised the £11,500, that means there is only £17,500 to go….. and I will not stop until we get there!

The original plan for TriJOGLE has changed, due to the global pandemic, one of the team being deployed overseas, and an investigation for a heart arrhythmia for me. We will now be completing 900 miles of triathlon between us from 10th to 18th of June 2021, still the equivalent distance from John O'Groats to Land's End.

This challenge will not be possible in any way without a team. The team for this event is me (Nigel) and Dean Maratty, who will be doing our 9 triathlons around Lincolnshire. We also have James 'Muzza' Murray who is running as much distance as he can whilst deployed, so that we can achieve the 900 miles target.

My wife Sara Johnson will be accompanying me and Dean, providing moral support, encouragement and sustenance. Our daughter Amy Johnson will primarily be supporting us from home in Lincolnshire, in charge of social media and communications. She will be joining us for some of the days too, as she is the one who started me on this journey for Macmillan.

Muzza is the one responsible for me taking up the sport of triathlon. He is the first one I told about when I came up with the idea of TriJOGLE and running around 100 miles should be a mere trifle to a multiple Ironman finisher like Muzza!

Last but not least there are the Marattys, Dean and Louise. Dean only took up the sport of triathlon in 2019, but he has hit the ground running, completing everything up to Half Ironman distance in his first year of the sport. He will also be accompanying me each day, which will be great training for the Outlaw iron distance race he has planned in July. His wife Louise is working with Sara on the domestic support, primarily in charge of our nutrition needs. With advice and support from Casey Jade Marshall, The Body Engineer, back in Lincolnshire, she will be doing everything to feed and fuel us for this epic challenge.

If you are able to support us in any way it is appreciated, from £1 to anything larger, or even practical support in other ways. We can be contacted at trijogle@gmail.com if you are able to offer anything in addition to monetary donations. 

Thanks for supporting my fundraising. Macmillan Cancer Support is here to help everyone with cancer live life as fully as they can, providing physical, financial and emotional support. So whatever cancer throws your way, we’re right right there with you. Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them 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.