Oxford Ceilidh - Saturday 7th February 2009

The Oxford ceilidh fundraiser took place this weekend, and the odd stray snowball aside, the night was a huge success! Raising just under £600, the Triple Threat Tour total (TTTT, anybody?) now stands at around £2,500. Awesome!

The event took place at Talbot Hall, LMH and we would like to thank Ayse Ozhan and Gemma Sedgwick for organising the venue. Our gratitude also goes out to the resident Rockall ceilidh band, who were fantastic on the night, and even threw in a set a bagpipes for good measure.

Thanks also to the kind folk at Hawkins Bazaar and Up & Running for providing raffle prizes - your donations were very much appreciated. Finally, the event would not have been a success without our trusty helping hands from the DTC, Tom Doel, Martin Bishop and Courtney Birch. Thanks guys!

Thank you to everyone who came along, especially considering the treacherous road conditions. I hope you all had a fantastic night and can make it to our next event, a concert at the Jacqueline du Pré Music Building on Sunday 8th March (check out the events page for more details and email us at ttt2009.info@googlemail.com to book tickets).

The Talbot Hall, LMH

Let ceilidh number 2 commence!

Shiny, happy people.

The ceilidh in full throttle! £600 raised for the MS Society - Thanks, everyone!

21/11/2008 – 22/11/2008

This week I travelled up north to visit Don Mahad at Newcastle University, an expert in mitochondrial defects in MS, to have a chat about a possible collaboration.  Always thinking about the tour I decided to get a bit of training in by cycling to the Lake District and hiking Scafell Pike – or at least that was the plan...

On Friday morning I set out from Durham towards the Pennines and immediately found conditions tough with icy roads and strong headwinds. The weather worsened as I crossed the Pennines with the combination of steep inclines, heavy snow, ice and cross-winds throwing me off the bike on more than one occasion. Eventually, after making it across the Pennines with a couple of knocks and numb hands (from making a few repairs in the frosty conditions), I decided to head south-east to save myself from injury - or worse. I hopped into a lovely B&B (Baliol House) in Barnard Castle for the evening after cycling a total of 75 mountainous miles and contemplated the day’s events.  

After the disappointment of failing to reach the Lakes and questioning whether I could have gone on, I listened to the advice of Tombo and undertook a second challenging day of cycling through the Yorkshire Dales; another hilly and windy 75mile ride, before meeting up with Tom just north of Harrogate and heading back to the safety of the Midlands. This really gave me some invaluable experience dealing with tough conditions, and I was surprised to find the second day relatively easy given the exertions of the Pennines – all in all a pretty successful, if somewhat improvised weekend of training!

Finally, a couple of special mentions go out to Aidan and Rachael for putting me up in Durham, to Tom for making the trip up north, and to Chris who turned 28 on Saturday – Happy Birthday Big Bro!!!

Triple Threat Tour Ceilidh - Friday 14th November 2008

The Birmingham Ceilidh was or very first fundraising event and we were nervous to say the least! With an audience made up mostly of family and friends, the aim was to get the word out and drum up support for the TTT. With the extra bonus of raising a little cash along the way…

We knew we were in for an exciting night. The majority of the audience had never been to a Ceilidh before. So it was truly awesome to see everyone getting stuck in and having a dance – even Matt had a go! We were all expert do-si-do-ers and willow strippers by the end of the night.

The event surpassed all expectations. We raised nearly £1,000 and the room was filled with good vibes and happy faces. A huge thank you to everyone who came!

Special mentions go to the venerable Mr. Kieran Kenny for travelling all the way from sunny Ireland to support our cause, Fatima and little bro for their help selling raffle tickets, Matty G and Robbo for helping to set up the hall and to the staff at the Moseley All Services Club for their sterling service.

Keep your eyes peeled for our next fundraising event...

Birmingham Half Marathon - Sunday 26th October 2008

This year saw the arrival of the first ever EDF Energy Birmingham Half Marathon – how could I resist getting involved in a little slice of history?! Expectations were high for this event and I was determined to make up for my shambolic performance at the Great North Run.

After a delayed start, the run got underway in perfect conditions - 10 miles later I noticed I was on for a decent time and pushed hard for the last 3 miles; with a bit of a sprint finish I managed to get round in 1hr 38mins, beating my personal best by 10mins, making amends for the Great North Run and rounding off a busy few weeks of training nicely.

Tom also managed to better his Great North Run time, finishing in 1hr 49mins. Well done Tombo! Time for a bit of a rest before planning the next series of events...

Snowdon Hike - Saturday 11th October 2008

On Saturday, the Triple Threat Tour Team (i.e. me and Tom) set out to conquer Mount Snowdon to gain some experience for the hiking portion of next year’s challenge...

Just one week after the frustrations of the Great North Run, I had no idea how the injured knee would hold up – even pottering up the stairs on the morning of the hike was causing some discomfort.   Regardless, we set out early from Brummie-land, excited and encouraged by clear skies. The good weather didn’t last long with a thick mist surrounding us as we approached the base of Snowdon. After having a quick bite and throwing on our waterproofs we set off on the trail...

Shortly after setting off, we get more than we bargained for with a ridiculously steep incline marking the start of the path. After struggling for 10-15mins, the path soon levelled out we got into our stride. There was one more testing section to come, with the middle third of the route being treacherously steep and tricky underfoot. This wasn’t helped by the ever worsening conditions and a veil of mist occluding the path ahead. Finally, we reached the peak, the only drawback being that the weather stopped us from admiring the views afforded by the summit.

After getting a few snaps, we set off back down the misty Mount Snowdon and with plenty of energy in reserve we decided to run along a couple of the flatter passages. We eventually made it back to base in a total time of 3hrs 45mins, a decent first attempt given the tough conditions and I was certainly surprised that the knee didn’t cause any problems. All in all, a pretty successful weekend and I look forward to returning for the last leg of the Triple Threat Tour in May 2009, if not before. Thanks to Tombo for driving, especially following the hike, and to Bianca for navigating.

The Great North Run - Sunday 5th October 2008

It was last year's Great North Run that started my obsession with running and fundraising. So this year I returned to have a go at beating my previous time of 1hr 47mins. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen and the elation of the 2007 race was replaced with a more sobering experience this time round.

Following a positive start, somewhere between the 3- 4 mile mark saw the return of an old injury to my left quadricep, and after having to stop for around 5mins to stretch I decided to chuck the stopwatch and just aim for completion. The remainder of the race was a tentative jog. And even with a bit of a sprint at the last few hundred metres I finished in around 1hr 53mins, rather gutted and with a gammy left knee from compensating for the quad injury... bad times.

Looking past the initial disappointment, I did manage to complete the race in under 2hrs despite an interrupted training regime - cycling 89miles the previous weekend and having only one decent leg - so it isn’t all bad! All this has done is fuel me to train hard for the next event, the Birmingham Half-Marathon on Sunday 26th October, where I will be looking to claw my way back to a 1hr 45min finish in my home town.

Also, a special mention goes out to Aidan Lancashire, my 2007 running partner, who improved on last year’s time by a full 5mins, congrats Aidman! Finally, the Triple Threat Tour project manager Tom Ward-Davies completed his first Great North Run, finishing in a similar time to me despite recent back problems, well done Tombo!         

Oxford to Cambridge - 29th September 2008

To kick-start my training for the cycling portion of the Triple Threat Tour, I decided to join in the British Heart Foundation cycling event from Oxford to Cambridge (89 miles) as part of team CORTEX (the Cambridge from Oxford Riding Team of Excellence!). This team comprised a great group on individuals from FMRIB (the Oxford centre for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain), namely Molly Bright, Matt Robson, Brad Macintosh, Dan Gallichan and Adrian Groves, who were kind enough to let me join at late notice having not previously cycled further than around 30 miles.

We set off at 7.30am on a cold, foggy Oxford morning, persevering through the damp conditions for an hour or so until the sun reared its head and allowed us to appreciate the views afforded by the rolling countryside. The route was fairly flat and fast, with the occasional testing climb, and despite struggling at around the 60 mile mark the last 20 miles flew by and my tentative target of finishing in around 6 hours was smashed... happy days!

My thanks go out to Sam Hugueny for dragging me through a last minute training session and for providing invaluable advice for the ride, cheers Frenchy!      

Montreal - 17th-20th September 2008

This year saw the first ever world congress on research and treatment in Multiple Sclerosis, which I was lucky enough to attend as part of the Ebers research group. The conference provided a fantastic platform to learn about the most recent advances in understanding MS and provided an insight into current treatment strategies.

As always, I had training in mind and took the chance to participate in a light 5k fun run around the old town of Montreal, whist I also enjoyed taking a 90min sightseeing run just before leaving; this took me round more of the old town, through the vibrant city centre and up to mount royal, the hill from which the city takes its name, stopping off at the Chalet du Mont Royal that overlooks downtown Montreal and the Parc du Mont Royal, one of Montreal’s largest green spaces. (Be sure to check out the photos section!)

All in all this was a fantastic week; being able to see the MS research community in its entirety to present recent work and also being able to fit in a bit of training in a beautiful city.