Ultramarathon man

When Ross Taylor heard the Race to the King Ultramarathon had been cancelled, he was undeterred and decided to cover the distance anyway on behalf of My Name'5 Doddie Foundation.

Ross was inspired to enter the 53 mile challenge after being touched by MND, as he explained: "I've now lost two people very close to me because of MND over the past 8 years and have seen the suffering it causes. Because of this, I am incredibly grateful for all the great work your foundation does to support those suffering and help the search for a cure"

"At the start of the year (pre-COVID) I decided I had to do something to support those suffering in a tangible way, so I entered The Race to the King Ultramarathon to try and raise money for the foundation. It was obviously cancelled, so I thought I could do a solo attempt at covering the distance instead. This was all going to plan until April when I got COVID myself and I was unable to train properly and the likelihood of being able to do it seemed to disappear."

Sadly at the end of May, Ross lost a close family member to MND and decided he had no choice but to pull on his running shoes.

"On Saturday morning I dragged myself over the distance in his memory. I also had to make sure I honoured all of those who had so kindly donated earlier in the year. I managed to complete it in 9h 43 mins and could not be more pleased with the donations that have come in off the back of it, £1690 so far," said Ross.

"These donations justified my stupidity and the sore legs! I am so pleased I can do my small part in helping your foundation and am inspired by the great work you all do and Doddie’s unbelievable resilience facing up to MND. One of the most incredible things I have learned from the people I have known with MND is that their positivity throughout their fight with the disease is endless. I believe that they are the bravest people I have ever met. The joy MND patients get from small things in life is something that everyone should strive for and so much can be learned from them. The happy moments I shared with those close to me throughout their battles couldn’t be possible without their seemingly constant ability to smile even whilst battling this dreadful disease."

Great words Ross and a fantastic effort, and thank you for this amazing support.