A team of eight friends from the CrossFit Ironfort gym in Holmfirth, Huddersfield, including Filtermist’s Director of Group Shared Services Jo Morris, is planning to conquer the ‘Race to The Castle’ Ultra Marathon event in June to raise £5000 for the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA).
The ‘Always Ultra Team’ will be traversing the 100km multi-terrain trail over the course of two days, accompanied by MaNDy - a 40 kg wooden sleeper branded with the MNDA logo, to add another layer of endurance to the mission! The course begins in Kirkhale, Northumberland and ends at the historic Bamburgh Castle - taking in woodland, coastal trails and rugged moorland along the way, with elevations up to 3500ft.
Team leader, Jonathan Prescott, comments, “The MNDA focuses on improving access to care, research and campaigning for those people living with, or affected by, Motor Neurone Disease (MND) in England, Wales and NI. It also funds research into a cure for this dreadful disease.”
MND affects messages sent from the brain to the muscles. This leads the muscles to weaken, stiffen and gradually to waste away. MND can affect how people walk talk, eat, drink and breathe. However, MND affects everyone differently. Not all symptoms will affect everyone, or in the same order. Symptoms also progress at varying speeds, which makes the course of the disease difficult to predict. MND is life-shortening and there is no cure. Although the disease will progress, symptoms can be managed to help achieve the best possible quality of life.
“We decided to support this much-deserved cause as it doesn’t always get the recognition it deserves,” continues Jonathan.
“This is why we’re taking MaNDy – to help raise awareness of the MNDA and its essential work.
“Motor Neurone Disease is a devastating, cruel illness and it is vital that the MNDA is able to continue with its invaluable work. All charities have been affected by Covid – traditional fund-raising has been severely restricted, so anything we can do to help will assist people directly affected by MND and their families, both now and in the future.”
A £20 donation to the MND Association can help fund an Association Visitor to give support to a person living with MND, £50 could help fund a support grant for someone living with MND, whilst £100 allows MND to continue with its ground-breaking research into a world where MND is eradicated.
Every penny donated to the Always Ultra Team’s JustGiving page goes directly to the MND Association. Donations can be made at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/jonathan-prescott1.
