I’ve just signed up to do my fourth May 50K, and this year, I’m again running for two very special people, my cousin Clare and my niece’s partner Joseph. Clare has primary progressive MS and has enrolled in the OCTOPUS clinical trial in the UK, partnered with our PLATYPUS trial here in Australia.
(L-R): Rohan with his niece’s partner Joseph and cousin Claire.
While Clare was diagnosed with late-onset MS, Jo was diagnosed in his early 20s following the onset of problems with his vision. They motivate every step I take as I train for The May 50K and this year’s centrepiece, a Half Marathon in Canberra. Jo is also a runner, and with his MS well managed, likes to do Parkrun on Saturday mornings with my niece, Alice.
While many people with MS have significant levels of disability which prevents them from participating in running or walking activities, there is plenty of evidence – as the Cleveland Clinic advises – suggesting that exercise “decreases the severity of various MS symptoms, including fatigue and depressive symptoms, improves walking and balance, and enhances the quality of life”.
Jo can leave me in his dust, but that won’t deter me from lacing up, pestering all my friends and colleagues, and raising as much as I can to fuel the research that is taking us faster and further down the pathways to cures.
Please join me, and thousands of others, in what is a fabulous, fun and fundamentally important challenge.
