Right then...

We hate running, really do, but when we saw that Rob, Kev and their amazing team had planned a marathon in support of MND, we had to sign up. We feel so lucky to have an amazing group of friends and family who have decided to come along for the ride and join #TeamMummyJu. We've never been good at sharing on social media but plan to give it a go and share how the training is going, and we urge the rest of the team to do so. We've written the piece below quite a few times to share a bit of the story but if you want to learn a bit about our journey keep reading...

We are Luke & William, eldest and youngest son of Julia and Dale, the greatest parents anyone could wish for. The three brothers (Luke, George & William) had the most amazing childhood in the happiest of homes, full of laughter and fun. Our house was the party house, always the one with the event, where people would want to be. This was down to our mum, Julia (re-named Mummy Ju, which she never liked but she loved to look after everyone so it stuck) she would be the life and soul of every party, every event, every day!

In mid 2019 mum noticed a limp in her leg that she couldn't shake, she told us boys that it was something she picked up whilst running. She went for months of tests (without her boys knowing), and in November 2019 she told us the devastating news that she had been diagnosed with MND. A diagnosis we hope no one ever has to hear, we didn't know what it was at the time, we just knew it was bad. Mum was upbeat early on and continued to work (she loved her colleagues at Oxford Brookes University), and wanted to continue being a nanny to our eldest Mali with the support of our amazing family and friends.

Shortly after this, lockdown hit and we couldn't see her or Dad for months on end. Mum deteriorated over following year (but would continue with regular visits from the hairdresser and the team from the nail salon, glamorous as always) but would still be my first point of call for advice and support. She always wanted to be a nanny, and my two daughters (Mali and Angharad) were both fortunate enough to spend a small amount of time with her, something we talk about daily.

Mum was always the boss, in June of last year she spent some time at Sobbell Hospice in Oxford (she gritted her teeth and refused to go for a long time), as a family we went to visit shortly before Luke travelled for work, George went home to Seattle and William went on holiday. Soon after, she returned from the hospice and on the 26th June 2022, with all of her boys out of the country she took her final breath with her loving husband, dad by her side.

Our lives have been turned upside down since June, we know everyone will experience loss in their lives but we're not sure we were ready. Good days, bad days and days in-between is where I/ we are at now, so this event has provided some real focus. Every time we run we think of mum, every time we run we want to do something to aid in the fight against for MND. But this isn't to say we are enjoying this... Running will never be enjoyable.

We want to thank Rob, Kev, Doddie, Stephen and the rest of the sporting world for bringing the fight against MND into the public domain.

If you want to support the team and myself trotting round Leeds for 42.2km in May and aiding the fight to find a cure, any donation small or large is so greatly appreciated

Luke & Wills Taylor

And the rest of TeamMummyJu:

Daniel Goodwin, Chris Wiseman, Will Midwinter, Huw Roberts, Tim Gills, Steve Thompson, Ben Stacey, Linus Doubtfire & Joe Willoughby