Rugby fan, Andrew, is taking on the marathon for Rob

Meet Andrew. He is running the Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon in partnership with Clarion this year for Motor Neurone Disease Association.

With motor neurone disease, known as MND, messages from the motor neurones gradually stop reaching the muscles. This leads the muscles to weaken, stiffen and waste, which can affect how you walk, talk, eat, drink and breathe.

Motor Neurone Disease (MND) affects the nerves known as motor neurones. These nerves are found in the brain and spinal cord, and they help tell your muscles what to do. Messages from the motor neurones gradually stop reaching the muscles. This leads the muscles to weaken, stiffen and waste, which can affect how you walk, talk, eat, drink and breathe.

As a rugby fan, he followed Rob Burrow’s story. There were so many things that resonated with him – he was two weeks older than me and, like him, he has three children of a similar age.

Andrew said, “Thinking about how I would feel if my wife and kids had to go through what Rob’s family has really stopped me in my tracks. But when Rob sadly lost his battle with MND and left us with those powerful final few words of his BBC documentary, he inspired me to take on the marathon.”

Rob quoted, “Whatever your personal battle, be brave and face it. In a world full of adversity, we must still dare to dream.”

Andrew understands what it is like to have your physical health get in the way of your ambitions. He experienced sight loss in my mid-teens due to a genetic condition that means he is registered blind. While he has adapted to life living with it, he always just thought that a huge physical challenge like a marathon was not something he’d ever be able to do. This was reinforced further in his early thirties when a cancerous tumour resulted in him losing almost a third of his lung.

In the past couple of years, he had started to take more care of his fitness. He convinced himself that he would never be able to run any real distance. Rob’s words really made him question everything and re-evaluate all those things that he thought were unachievable. To see the bravery Rob showed, and the things he achieved in spite of his health, really hit home with Andrew and so he decided “why can’t I run a marathon?”.

Andrew asked his wife to book me a place in the marathon as a Father’s Day present from his children. Andrew said, “I really want them to always believe that anything is possible, whatever the circumstances and to face things head on. This is certainly the lesson I took from Rob Burrow and I am incredibly grateful to him for that.”

We cannot wait to see Andrew cross the finish line in May. Good luck for the big day. If you would like to support Andrew, his JustGiving page is below.

https://www.justgiving.com/page/andy-jones-rob-burrow-marathon?newPage=true