Influence & Inspiration

To make my world bigger is something I’ve been working on for a few years now, as things have got harder for me physically I seemed to have opened up more doors and gone further than I ever thought possible. This month we won a competition with the Discovery Channel just by telling people my plans for 2016 (and a lot of asking for votes!).

You may ask where I get my sense of adventure from, my direction, and the desire to push myself and learn along the way. I’d said it was definitely from my dad, a man influenced by The Goons and Monty Python. Add in a passion for travel and educating and in some distorted way that moulded me. The comedy element is an important factor because as children that’s how I, my brothers and sister learnt, obviously not orthodox but fantastic nonetheless, I’ll explain…

Our mum used to work as a waitress at the local Berni Inn and our dad used to drop Mum at work for her night shift, drive round the corner and then ask “Who wants to play the ‘Where are we’ game?” We would all shout back “YES!” and then we would either jump in the boot of our car or the back of Dad’s work van. Eyes closed, we would either be driven a few streets or perhaps miles and we would take turns at guessing where the vehicle had stopped, mostly in high-pitched voices à la Harry Secombe or Peter Sellers. Our parents also took advantage of sunny Sundays, and the ‘spare’ fiver or tenner for fuel would take us miles. Dad’s excursions, inclusive of a history lesson, were like his comedy influences, you never knew where you would be taken and the facts would be a bit leftfield.

An example would be a visit to Warwick Castle, we couldn’t afford admission so we’d go as far as the portcullis, and we wouldn’t be told that what we saw before us was built by William the Conqueror in 1068, no, it would be a petrifying story about the holes in the roof above and that hot oil and wax was poured on potential intruders. Sometimes we’d go to the coast on that thin fuel allowance, stop at Lulworth Cove and Dad would say “If you ever need to know about coastal erosion then look up this place; read a book”. Then, we’d get in the car and drive home again. The seed of curiosity was planted and I went on to get an ‘A’ in GCSE Geography, using Lulworth and coastal erosion as my subject matter.

So this then leads me on to talk about my most recent mile, and my next. I wrote about the facts of Iffley Road in my last blog, yet I had no idea how much of a challenge it was going to be. As soon as I stepped out onto the track I had a huge psychological battle which I managed to overcome and win, I couldn’t believe I did it.

What of the Oval then? I can tell you this; it hosted the very first FA Cup Final between the Wanderers and the Royal Engineers in 1872. Morton Betts scored the only goal of the game on 15 minutes and the Wanderers won! A distinctive feature of this ground is its neighbouring Victorian gasometer; built in the 1800s it now has a listed status. Just like my father, I do not feel it necessary to state the obvious, that it is most definitely one of the most famous cricket grounds in the world; read a book.

Saturday is my third mile of the year and like last month’s mile, when I was joined by the fantastic Tommy Lloyd, I will be once again joined by a young man who has also been pushing himself for others.

Archie Hill was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy in 2008 at just 3 years old. Duchenne is a severe degenerative muscle-wasting disease, which will unfortunately lead to paralysis and will significantly shorten his life. Selflessly, Archie and his family have asked to ‘Move a Mile For Muscles’ with me to raise much-needed awareness and funds. Archie has put himself up to help others more than once. Alongside other boys with Duchenne, Archie and the group took their fight for Translarna (the first treatment approved for the underlying cause of DMD,) to the very top and knocked on 10 Downing Street asking for answers on access to rare disease drugs.

Archie at No 10

 

Just like Tommy, I consider Archie to be courageous and he should be an inspiration to many at such a young age. So I can most certainly say that I will complete Saturday’s mile whatever it takes, and hopefully won’t get beat up by myself like I did at Iffley Road.

Archie is moving a mile for muscles and if he can, WE can too!


Thanks for the sense of adventure Dad and for making my world bigger.


“Always look on the bright side of life” x

You can sponsor OUR miles here ... https://www.justgiving.com/Martin-Hywood3

You can watch my short film here... 

Follow me on Twitter https://twitter.com/HywoodMartin

#MoveAMileForMuscles

#IfICanYouCanToo

 

The Eleventh Hour

It seems I’ve made a mistake. The chance to vote for #MYWBpledge did not finish at midnight last night, it finishes at midnight TONIGHT!

This is my last chance to encourage you to vote for me…

In the 70s I used my legs to bounce on my space hopper. In the 80s I used my legs to ride my Burner BMX. In the 90s I remember running across a road in West Yorkshire to get to the hospital to be part of the birth of my first born; Lucie. In the 00s I used my legs to walk down the aisle to marry the most beautiful woman I ever did meet.

Now, what does the future hold for my legs? I really don’t know.

I do know this; I intend to fill 2016 with fantastic memories for my girls. The whole point of me entering this competition is for my girls to see what can be achieved regardless of what some might say is difficult and challenging circumstances. Also, I hope that what we are doing now will help somebody with my condition in a few years’ time. I hope that others don’t fall like I do, don’t feel weak like I do and don’t feel constantly exhausted like I do. I hope that many more people will be able to do all of what I’ve mentioned above because we’re raising awareness and funds right now.

I’m not a natural at what I do, every time I have gone onto a radio station I have nearly been sick, every time I’ve stood up in front of all my colleagues or any audience I have panicked so much my heart feels like it will pop out of my chest, it really doesn’t sit well with me to talk about this condition but it has to be done, otherwise nobody would ever know.

Since I started raising awareness I have kept a scrapbook, a portfolio of memories for Lucie, Olivia and Skye to look back on. It contains every blog, every newspaper article, photos, certificates and acknowledgements of our achievements. This is my legacy to them; this is how I’m trying to be the best Daddy I can be.

A saying I’ve heard often and stuck by myself is that if you do not like something in life then change it, if you cannot change it then change your attitude towards it, so that’s what I do. I cannot take any medicine, there is no prescription for me but what I do have is my family, friends and my challenges to keep me on my feet.

I’ve seen other parents score strikes when bowling to rapturous applause and joyous laughter “That was my Daddy’s strike”, I’ve seen other parents win a race at a school sports day “That was my Daddy that won that” as they lean to my youngest daughters ear and this is also something I cannot do, I can, however walk and so that’s what we’ll do. We will walk one mile-a-month to iconic sporting arenas and events in 2016 which is an Olympic year and also 50 years since England won the World Cup. Then my girls can say “That was my Daddy that walked that!”

I’m a very lucky man, everyone I have asked to help me in 2016 has been extremely accommodating with an ‘open arms’ attitude for which I am very grateful. This started in autumn of 2015 when I asked actor, Ralph Ineson to help with my very own short film to promote my intentions for 2016, he replied “It would be an honour to get involved” and this, with the help of friends, Paul Adams and Steve Richmond, is how we made this short film.

So far we have raised 36 hours of research in the first two months of this year and we’ve already made some fantastic memories and you can see them here.

https://flipagram.com/f/kf4hokUCIq

So you see this competition is imperative, it is an opportunity to take my Orange t-shirt on tour for all to see, so people can raise questions about the condition of which I can answer and to raise funds to treat others in the future.

This is not a vanity project; it’s not about me at all really. A very big reason is for this one picture right here, the people in it, our year ahead and the memories we’re going to make

This is a life changing opportunity to make my world bigger with The Discovery Channel UK and you can come with us too!

So, for the very last time of asking…

1. Vote for "Martin from Buckinghamshire"

2. Vote for two other people.

3. Fill out Name, email and phone number.

4. Hit "Submit"

5. When you receive a "Thank You!" you have successfully voted

http://www.discoveryuk.com/pledges/vote-now-2/

Thank you to everyone that has voted, shared, hit RT and encouraged others to vote for me, I’ll probably never be able to thank you all enough but you must know it’s appreciated from the bottom of my heart.

#MoveAMileForMuscles

#IfICanYouCanToo

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

Mile 2: Iffley Road, Oxford.

It was in 2013 that I started to raise awareness about Muscular Dystrophy; I wanted to ‘Move a Mile for Muscles’ and all I could think of was the most famous mile in history.

On the 6^th of May, 1954 Sir Roger Bannister ran a sub four minute mile at the Iffley Road track in Oxford and I’ve always wanted to get onto that hallowed ground. I never got round to it, it’s something that I’ve always put off “We’ll go there another day, we’re too busy”. So in 2013 I did carry out my mile but in the luxury of a venue nearer to home and more convenient to myself.

Things have changed and an opportunity has presented itself to me and there is no way that I will be turning it down, I will be getting onto one of the most famous tracks in the world. 

I have become so intrigued and interested with sports people that are mostly alone in their event and how they overcome everything that comes with that. Some might say that Roger Bannister was not alone and he was helped by pace makers, similar to that of a boxer with his team in the corner of the ring. The pace makers of the mile were Chris Chataway (co-founder of the Guinness book of records) and Chris Brasher (sports journalist and co-founder of the London Marathon), these three men were a band of brothers and had a lot to prove as Bannisters training techniques were considered controversial and most certainly unorthodox for a runner.

The event nearly never happened at all, there was a very strong wind on the day and Bannister decided he would rather save himself for another day but at 18:00 the wind dropped enough to get the race underway. The gun fired and they were off! The stadium announcer on that day was Norris McWhirter (Guinness book of records presenter) and the BBC commentary came from Harold Abrahams (1924 Olympic 100 metre champion).

Each time the men crossed the line the time was announced and could be heard by the men. The first lap was 58 seconds, on time. On the second lap they heard 1.58, again, good and on time. After the third lap the men heard the announcement of 3 minutes, 1 second and this wasn’t good enough. Bannister kicked and crossed the line at the point of exhaustion.

Chris Brasher setting the pace for Sir Roger Bannister

The final announcement was made… “As a result of Event Four, the one mile, the winner was R.G. Bannister of Exeter and Merton colleges, in a time which, subject to ratification, is a track record, an English native record, a United Kingdom record, a European record, in a time of three minutes...” The complete time was not heard because of the erupting crowd but Bannister had done it!

Away from the track Sir Roger Bannister spent most of his life as a Neurologist in Oxford, which struck a chord with me. It was a neurologist in Oxford that gave me the diagnosis of my condition and the coincidences don’t stop there. It is no secret that I have great difficulty in walking and that I’m grateful for this diagnosis and not anything else. Also, the love and appreciation I have for my family, I write about them in nearly every blog and how I wish to be the best role model I can be.  Imagine my surprise then when I heard a recent interview with Sir Roger…

“I’m having troubles with walking, so I do have difficulties. Ironically it’s a neurological disorder of Parkinson’s. I’m being well looked after and I don’t intend to let it interfere with my other activities. Life has its physical challenges, I’ve not been free of other illnesses but I take every day as it comes and the pleasure I receive, much of it is seeing what my grandchildren are achieving. I once said, as someone was commiserating with me about having this illness I said just consider the alternatives, which is the way I look at it.

There is a gentle irony about it but I’ve seen and looked after patients with so many neurological and other disorders that I’m not surprised that I’ve acquired an illness; it’s in the nature of things. I think it’s important to be a good father and grandfather and of course what we pass on, we pass the gifts of the children and grandchildren whom we have raised. The most important part of my life has been my family, I’m extremely grateful for my wife who has always supported me, putting that alongside my career these have gone hand in hand.

One of my pleasures in life has been walking, apart from of course, running and I founded a walking club in Oxford and we had our 100^th walk a little while ago but of course now the walks were always followed by lunch so now I’m a very happy member of the lunching group that hears about the walk and therefore vicariously enjoys the walk”

 

So it is with humour and a tongue firmly in my cheek that I say there is little difference between myself and Sir Roger Bannister except about 44 years and the fact my mile will take about 44 minutes.

I have been invited to the historic race track at Iffley Road, Oxford to stand on the shoulders of giants and walk one mile in my very own shoes. Three minutes and 59.4 seconds was the world record time and I actually feel lucky that my time will be a lot longer. This will give me the opportunity to appreciate not only where I’ll be, but also the family and friends that will enjoy this experience with me.

You can sponsor me here> https://www.justgiving.com/Martin-Hywood3 

'Like' our Facebook page> https://www.facebook.com/MileForMusclesCountMeIn/ 

Follow me on twitter> https://twitter.com/HywoodMartin

If I Can, You Can Too.

Sometimes it feels good to be different, it might be painful and sometimes uncomfortable but I like to push myself. I’m Martin; I’m 42 years old, living and adjusting to a life with Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy. I’m a husband and also a father to three great girls, the youngest of whom I’ve never picked up, never been able to carry and cuddle, I’ve always been too weak. It’s these things that are difficult for me to handle but we carry on and adjust, regardless. And besides, I consider myself lucky enough to be a family man; my girls are the ones that push me on, to keep fighting.

Since I was diagnosed at 23 years old my focus and attitude has always been positive, there is no point in being anything else, if I do become anything else then I know I will suffer physically and I can’t afford to let that happen. As I’ve mentioned, I’m grateful to have what I have and with that said I’m prepared to do all I can to help others.
For the last three years I’ve been part of Muscular Dystrophy UK’s ‘Move A Mile For Muscles’ campaign, each year I have pushed myself more and challenged myself exactly the same as an athlete would, my preparation is similar too because every challenge is relevant to that person’s ability. I train, I diet and I set myself up to finish what I set out to do the best way I can.

This year will be different, very different indeed. 2016 is an Olympic year and as I’m losing the ability to walk at all, I want to lead by example and get as fit as I possibly can and I’m challenging you to do the same. I never expect anyone to do anything that I’m not prepared to do myself; also this challenge comes with a positive twist. Have you ever watched a sporting event or seen a sporting, iconic arena on telly and thought “I’d love to go there one day; I’d love to do that”? Well this year I’ll be fulfilling some dreams for myself and others along the way, very simple ones but good ones nonetheless.

My challenge is to move a mile for muscles once a month this year to iconic sporting events and arenas all over the country, raising much needed funds and awareness along the way.

These are my miles…
Walk one mile around Stoke Mandeville Stadium
Walk a mile round Iffley road track in Oxford (where Roger Bannister broke the record for a four minute mile)
Walk one Mile around the Oval cricket ground, London.
Walk one mile to tower bridge, London, to watch and support the Marathon runners.
Race a mile around Brands Hatch circuit pushing myself to the absolute limit in a BMW M3.
Walk up Wembley Way on FA cup final day
Walk one mile to watch the F1 at Silverstone
Walk One mile to watch tennis at Wimbledon
Walk one mile to Elland Road stadium
Walk one mile around the Olympic stadium, London.

Every mile will be completed with a blog with reasoning and heritage. You can come with me too, that’s my gauntlet being thrown down to you. Do you think you could get yourself fit enough to move a mile for muscles in this Olympic year? Inspire your family, get them off the couch and get them out. Ever wanted to go to a sports event but never got round to it? Get up and go!

I have been with my wife for about 20 years and every year she says that she’d love to go to Wimbledon, this year we will and we’ll do it for a great cause too!
You’re welcome to come along with me or take up your own challenge and move a mile for muscles by yourself. I challenge you to come up with an original idea to get people up and motivated; motivated enough to help others.

All of this will be exhausting, it will absolutely drain me but I’m hoping to have family and friends with me to make this a real team effort. I have an opportunity here and there is no way I’m going to let this go.
As I’ve got older I’ve started to read more and more and last year a friend recommended that I read about a runner called Steve Prefontaine and I did…
“To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice the gift.”

I can walk, so I will.

Ambulant

Once again, I've been lucky enough to have someone else join me on my blog. Steve Davies is a friend of mine with Becker Muscular Dystrophy and wanted to join me in trying to explain some of the frustration behind being an ambulant disabled person...

With A Little Help From my Friends

I really like to be busy, not necessarily physically but most definitely, mentally.

On the 26th of September 2014, after recently finishing my 'Mile For Muscles' in Leeds I decided to go again and once again I would try to better what I had just conquered. I took to social media and decided that I would try to turn 'I' into 'We'. I was wondering if any of my friends would like to get on-board with an idea I had, which, in essence, seemed quite simple. Would you be able to join me and help me complete an ambition of mine and that was to be part of a Marathon.

It may seem strange to some that as my condition gets worse I have shown more interest in sports that involve just one person, distance or challenging environment. This might stem from my own challenges that I now face, I'm not sure but whatever it is I'm thoroughly enjoying it, the things humans put themselves through to prove a point, never give up and relish on the achievement.

So, back to that Friday night in September, some of you replied to my request that night and there was a theme, I was getting the same reply via Facebook, Twitter and text messages and yet some of you had no idea you were all saying the same thing; Count Me In! Our tag line was born and I was bombarded with it. Through the Autumn and early Winter of 2014 I was already visualising a Marathon in Aylesbury and even had some of the running order worked out already but then I had to think about reserve runners in-case life was life and people had to pull out. Also, I wanted a broad range of people involved,  the event had to be about inclusion, encouragement and fun. Talking about fun, I wanted to bring a musical element to the day too, so in January 2015 I met with old school friend, musician and music promoter, Paul Adams. Typical coffee shop meeting that over ran and ended up with us getting chucked out by our ear. As I was walking back to my car Paul closed the meeting by saying "Yeah, we could call our festival 'Music For Muscles', what do you think?" . That, my friend, fits like a glove.

 Once again as in the previous two years we immediately got support from Val and Gary, the landlady and landlord of our venue and the same from the Stoke Mandeville Stadium, who, once again, had an open arms attitude, so in that respect we were prepared early on.

I started to have more meetings with people to try to make sure they could visualise what I was trying to achieve and how help was imperative to me and others. People came in droves, I went to meet the Aylesbury united walking football team, A Marathon man and friends who wanted to cycle 26 miles and every one of them had their own element of competition to it. Mark Sammon was going to 'Race The Relay' and run his Marathon in a record time, Dean Murray and Wayne Martinig were persuaded by me after Bradley Wiggins took on his hour challenge, to cycle their 26.2 miles in under 90 Minutes, Hayley and Tommy Lloyd scooting round in Super Hero outfits. Then there was Graham and Hannah Cocker running around Stockport, Cheshire, training tied together at the ankle in preparation for the big day, no charity t-shirt, no sign of the fact they were entering into a charity event, no explanation whatsoever why they was tied together. That still makes me smile. That said, it's probably a good time to say what an effort people were making to be here and be part of this too. People were coming from all over England to be part of this and I do mean from all over, Cornwall, Cambridge, Cheshire, Lancashire, Cumbria, Warwickshire and our great friend, Jo from Yorkshire.

Over the last few months I was burning the candle at both ends and constantly staying in touch with people to make sure they were reassured and everything was still on and it was actually happening. So many people had put the date in their diaries very early on, it was becoming very overwhelming and by that I mean in a supportive, feeling loved, kind of way. 

Family friend, Marie Johnson started up our raffle and little did I know that it would be a massive contributor to our 'Just giving' page, in the end. As well as the board game invented by Sheralee which pretty much instantly raised a few hundred pounds, plus my mum's sweet game too! Thank you, Ladies. 

As we run up to our event I presented at my works town hall meeting and presented to all of my colleagues, it was one of the hardest things I've done. To stand in front of everyone you work with and tell them everything about yourself, I really did open my heart, it felt painful to say some words because I was talking about my own reality and a future I may face and then, at the end, I had to ask for help...

Turns out albeit petrifying, it was a good thing to do as all employee donations would be doubled. The last few weeks I took part in a few radio shows and pod casts and then that was it, it was upon us, Mile For Muscles - Count me In, was here.

30th August 2015.

Of all the days in the year, this was one where I did not want to wake up with any pain or issues with my legs and low and behold my legs where shaking from above the knee, downwards. I could not let anyone know, Michelle kept asking and I said I was fine. I was not bothered about anything else. Reserve runners were in place, bands ready to play, BBQ being stoked, raffle full to the brim and 26 groups of people, individual runners, two cyclists, one Marathon Man and one swimmer all chomping at the bit, despite the weather. Everyone was raring to go, to cover their mile and carry on cheering for the whole day.

At 11:00 it started, our eldest daughter, Lucie, set off with relay baton. Over the last few months I was compiling 'Participant profiles' to get some insight as to why people were getting involved with 'Mile For Muscles - Count Me in'. It was a chance for an introduction from everyone, to everyone else. I think they worked well and the day before the event Lucie explained in hers that she was a carrier of the Muscular Dystrophy gene. Lucie hardly ever talks about this and was another reason for me to be gratified and also why, as a family, we do what we do.

After Lucie quickly set off some of us jumped in the car to get to the stadium to witness the first baton exchange and to encourage and cheer everyone on. Lucie passed the baton to my future son-in-law, Nick and he was off like a rocket! As were the next few runners and it really was happening, what I had thought for a long time as a dream was coming true right before my eyes. I cannot take you through everyone's miles because I wasn't at both ends of the relay and also, I cannot talk from your perspective and I wouldn't want any credit for what you did. And actually that was part of the point. It was only on the day that I saw how much pride people were taking in 'their mile', enthusiastically grabbing it, shouting about it and taking ownership.

I think it was about mile 12 when it started to rain and it didn't stop. The relentless, fine rain that is well known to soak you through. You really wouldn't of known, no spirits were dampened. The runners kept coming along with the cheers and smiles, I was on cloud nine.

Towards the end I had a feeling of anxiety in my stomach, A mix of pride and nervousness. During this year Michelle started to run in the evenings and she was to be the penultimate mile, mile 25. I remember looking up the road and Michelle was running towards me with the baton and that was it for me, absolutely, totally, rewarded with pride and emotion.

I received the baton and a cuddle and I was off, I had to think of something to get me to the end, what could it be, think Martin! It was beer, I chose beer to get me to the end and it was very painful but it worked. All joking aside, it was also for a very special young man that was asleep beside me most of the way in a buggy and also other friends boys who I've spoke about this year. My mile was for Finley, Leo, Tommy and thousands more.

The reception we received was incredible and I am extremely proud of how all my family and friends celebrated everyone that took part. I'm not quite finished here... The last mile was also walked by my friend Steve Davies who has Beckers Muscular Dystrophy and how amazing that was to see. Someone equally as stubborn and determined as me making so much effort to complete this challenge and together, at the end, we laughed in the face of adversity and it felt bloody brilliant! This was the first time I had met Steve, we knew each other through mutual friends on social media and this event compounded not only this but many friendships.

Even now I'm still tired, both physically and mentally but it was worth it. Lastly, I set a target of £6000 on our 'Just Giving' page. This was because £5880 will pay for a full weeks research into Muscular Dystrophy, 168 hours of research paid for by our event. The total right now is £5622.97 and we have £1000 to go on from the owners of Phlexglobal. Needless to say, we smashed it!

As I said in my very own participant profile, I don't think I'll ever be able to thank all you very selfless people enough.


With all my heart, Thank You!