In memory of my friend Robert Elliott, and to raise funds and awareness of MND, over two days on the 18th and 19th May I am planning to run approximately 95 miles. The route will take me from the Hurlingham Club in Putney to the Royal Yacht Squadron (“RYS”) in Cowes on the Isle of Wight.

Both of these clubs were special places for Robert and in 2023, thanks to him proposing me, I was elected a member of the RYS. Even though Robert was able to see me become a member, because of his MND I never had the chance to visit the RYS together as fellow members.

After his passing in December last year I resolved to do something to mark the impact Robert had on my life and to try and play a small part in raising funds to support those looking to find a cure - with the goal that families like Robert’s don’t have to face the incurable nature of an MND diagnosis.

My “plan” is to run the 95 miles over the course of two days. Day 1 should see me covering around 53 miles, running from Putney via Surbiton and then heading along the Wey navigations to Godalming, before heading to Haslemere with day 1 ending in Liphook.

On day 2 I will be running from Liphook via Petersfield and Havant all the way to Portsmouth Harbour, before jumping on the ferry to Ryde to complete the last 8.5 miles to the finish at the Squadron line at the RYS.

This run is not part of any organised event so I have planned my own route, broadly following the railway lines (hopefully I won’t make too many wrong turns!). I am lucky that my wife Abi will be supporting me on route as well as running the last section with me on the Isle of Wight. Robert's son Robbie is kindly going to start the run with me from Putney so there will be a witness to me starting from the promised position! I am also very grateful to my friends Emily, Joe, Donal, Celine and Ben who are planning to join me for certain sections of the run. Anyone else who wishes to join is more than welcome to so please get in touch and I can share the details of the route which I have divided into legs.

I am specifically running to raise funds for the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, a wonderful organisation founded by the late, great Doddie Weir. Given my age, the 1997 Lions tour and the "Living with Lions" behind the scenes video were seminal in cementing my absolute love of rugby. Doddie’s humour and resilience in the face of the injury he suffered via the actions of a South African player in one of the warm up matches always stayed with me. He is, and was, an inspiration. You can read below, and on the Foundation's website, about the remarkable things the charity has already achieved and I feel honoured to be doing this challenge in their name.

Robert was a remarkable man, who I was so lucky to have in my life - anything that you can give that can help to find a cure for this dreadful disease would mean a huge amount to me and Robert’s family.

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The My Name’5 Doddie Foundation

The Foundation is committed to helping improve the lives of those affected by Motor Neuron Disease. We help to fund grants, giving considerable sums to our friends at MND Association and MND Scotland to administer to individuals and families living with MND.

https://www.myname5doddie.co.uk/

How we provide support

We work in partnership with existing frontline care providers to ensure the holistic needs of patients and their families are understood and met. We do this through supporting our friends at MND Scotland and MND Association who conduct the due diligence and manage these grants on our behalf. To find out more about the grants and to apply, head to either MND Scotland or MND Association’s grant pages.

We initiate and encourage research to better understand the information and support needs of MND patients and their families.

We engage with patients through the provision of information about latest developments and the opportunity to shape research priorities clinical trials and rapidly translating results into clinical practice.