UPDATE: Nearly at the end of our fundraising effort for this particular event. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much to all who have donated. We have a quiz on Sunday night for a final few quid then this page will be closed and MS-UK can start using this money to help folks impacted by this crappy disease. Yesterday was the 2nd anniversary of losing Ian, but I'm sure he'd be over the moon with how much we've raised together. He'd also still be laughing at Carol and I attempting this in the first place...

UPDATE: Finished. Didn’t skate or walk every mile due to various ailments, but did what we could. The trip started with our luggage staying in Istanbul and not getting to us until the morning of the start of the challenge! The Rat Race crew had organised spare kit for myself, Carol and a few others who suffered the same fate, but fortunately ours turned up in the nick of time. We now have to make our way home - but the flight from Frankfurt to London has been cancelled. 🤷‍♀️

We will eventually get home and take some time to nurse our ruined knees and shredded feet (walking in spikes is not at all pleasant…).

Thanks again to all who have donated. The funds will make real, measurable, positive impacts on the lives of MS sufferers.

UPDATE: Just a few days to go now! Carol and I haven't made much progress with the skating - but we'll still take our skates with us and give it a go ;)

The biggest challenge now is packing.

A HUGE THANK YOU to those of you who have sponsored us so far. We will try and keep you updated with our trip - but there will be a distinct lack of signal on the lake itself...

Mongol 100 – the most surreal, audacious and hauntingly beautiful adventure challenge known to Man. The objective is to traverse the entirety of the lake from north to south, by any means: Foot, skate or bike. It seemed like a good idea when we were sat on the sofa!! We'll skate it says Sarah, knowing full well Carol is like Bambi on ice......so that's what we are going to do.

We will head to Ullanbaatar and then travel NW to Lake Khovsghol in outer Mongolia, where we aim to skate 100 miles over four days - just a marathon a day on ice!! Staying in camps along the way under the most amazing starry skies, we will battle with temperatures a wee bit colder than Walton or Oslo!! So the training has started and we have our five season sleeping bags. "But why?" - we hear you ask - why head to the middle of nowhere?

My (Sarah's) bro was diagnosed with MS when he was 25 - good old Relapsing-Remitting. He graduated quite quickly to Secondary Progressive. His social scene soon got pretty small during the days when his wife and friends were at work - but MS-UK were there with gym sessions and other classes to give him something to look forward to.

They always supported him. And we will always support them. Ian passed in 2023, but we will continue to fight in his name for others afflicted by this disease.

MS-UK was established in 1993, and is a national charity dedicated to empowering people with multiple sclerosis to make the most of today, and live life to the full.

MS-UK put people affected by MS at the heart of the work that they do. They provide high quality, professional services to support people living with multiple sclerosis, and they listen to people affected by MS.

Credit to Rat Race, Leo Francis and Iain for the images.