Mark Russell's Fundraiser For TOFS Ride London 2024

My son Caleb was born in July of 2022 and before he reached a full day old was rushed to the amazing RVI hospital in Newcastle for surgery as he was born with a rare condition that meant he could not swallow. He was diagnosed with TOF/OA which affects around one every 3500 people. 

A few months after Caleb's initial surgery he started to suffer with tracheomalacia. This meant a return to the RVI for more surgery. Through all that he has been through he is such a happy and cheerful boy. He brings so much joy to us all as a family.

Before Caleb was born none of us had even heard of the condition. It was a worrying and very stressful time. However one thing that helped us immensely was the TOFS charity. They were an enormous support in respect of information. Their book was never far from our side and we studied it in detail. We learnt a huge amount in a short time. 

Since then we have been able to learn about the ongoing challenges we might face, how best to deal with those and the questions we should ask.

Of course all of this is only possible thanks to the generous donations that TOFS receive as a charity. 

I felt that I wanted to help give something back to an organisation that gave so much to us, and so I entered to represent and raise funds for TOFS at the Ford Ride London 100 mile cycle in May 2024.

I'm asking if you would help me to reach my target for TOFS and pass on your encouragement for this big challenge! Every £ will help and we as a family will be very grateful.

And like that it was all over!

A decent pizza and meet up with John, Liz and Andrew the night before.

103 miles, a really good drenching at mile 50. A physical/mental wall at mile 65 to 75. Two stops at the TOFS cheering point. A physical hello with Richard another 100 miler. 1 banana, 3 litres of water/energy drink. Countless energy bars/cake/flapjack. A tow with two superstar riders that helped me finish strong, thank you!

Lastly a big thank you to all that donated and wished me well. An amazing amount raised for this super charity that do so much for those amazing TOFS like Caleb x

Well it's just over two weeks until I head to London to take on this challenge ride. On the 28th April I headed to Inverness and completed the Etape Loch Ness, a 66 mile loop of the loch. It was a very early and cold start but I completed the ride in 3h 55m and at mile 50 was feeling in very good condition. It was a decent test to see if I am close to being ready for London. The training is continuing but I'm currently back at work offshore and working nights shifts which won't help at all! 

I'm staggered by my fund raising total! You have all been absolute superstars in supporting me and more importantly this charity that means so much to us as a family.

WOW! My current fundraising in total is amazing. Thank you all so very much from us all. 

My training has been full on, actually quite a bit ahead of what my training plan asks for. This has been due to being involved in a fitness challenge at work which means I'm attempting to complete a minimum of 1.5 hours exercise a day. So if my apps are correct in February I logged about 400 miles! 

There's two weeks left of this challenge after which I'll be returning to the structure in my original training plan. Being very careful to avoid injury.

I can see from Strava that the other two TOFS 100 riders are also putting in an impressive amount of training. We are all taking it seriously in our bid to raise as much as we can for TOFS, knowing the great work they will be able to do for all the TOFS that they help with their condition. 

Again a massive thank you to you all for your donations and words of encouragement. 

Hello all!

Well a huge thank you to all you lovely people that have generously donated to my fundraiser for TOFS. My training has started well, and has co-incided with a fitness challenge at work, so that is providing even more motivation at the moment. I have my indoor bike trainer system all setup and am turning the cranks as often as I can. I'm very much looking forward to getting the bike outside when the evening weather and daylight improve.

I'm in regular contact with the other two Ride London 100 team mates who live down south, they're also making good progress with the their training and fundraising. Between us we hope to be able to supply TOFS with a healthy amount that will go far in helping kids & adults with the TOF/OA condition.