In 2021 Tom Bell ran a Viking challenge to raise money for the group. He is now going to run a full marathon on 15th October 2023 in the Viking gear. You can sponsor him here:
https://www.justgiving.com/page/tomvikingmarathon
Tom says: Yorkshire Marathon, 15th October, full Viking battle gear (approx 14kg in total).
Becca’s dad (Peter) has Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (“HSP”) and about four years ago, we found out that my wife Becca had a 50% chance of having it. This put our little boy at risk of having it too, and Becca was also pregnant with our daughter. To put it mildly, it was extremely worrying.
HSP is rare, and can be described as a cousin of MND. It doesn’t limit life like MND does, but it changes it dramatically, with a variety of symptoms that include the loss or reduced use of the legs, and can affect certain organs and causes other motor and cognitive problems.
Becca took the genetics tests and a few months on, we got the all clear and our part of the family thankfully isn’t at risk.
However, it turned out that at least five family members also have the gene that causes this rare disease, and this means that their children are also at risk. Peter, of course, continues to deal with his condition in an admirable way. We were lucky, but some of our family, less so. To put it mildly it gave us the willies and we want to try and help fight the disease.
SO, we’re doing something nutty to raise money for the HSP Support Group, which funds research and helps those that are affected by the disease. Great little charity!
I’m running the Yorkshire Marathon in Viking battle gear- chainmail, shield, axe, seax all weighing around 14kg. Becca is running it also, to (I quote) “make sure Tom doesn’t die”, which is sweet.
We’ve both been training hard, which has been challenging with busy jobs and young kiddies!
We’re grateful for your support!