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Meet the 2021 Team TA London Marathon Super Heroes!

Meet the 2021 Team TA London Marathon Super Heroes!

Posted on 24 August 2021 by Pippa McClounan

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Find out what motivates our amazing fundraisers to run 26.2 miles for their favourite charity.

Many of our fabulous runners have been waiting since April 2020 to lace up their trainers and take on the iconic Virgin London Marathon.

Their time has finally come, along with those who will be running the 26.2 miles virtually on 3 October 2021.

Our successful charity place athletes are gearing up to tackle the biggest fundraising event on the planet, raise lots of money for TA and fulfil a truly amazing personal achievement.

So let's find out who they are! 

 

Matt Davidson 

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Inspired by his older brother, who ran VLM in 2019 for TA, Matt is following in his footsteps by taking on the challenge of 26.2 miles on 3 October. Matt was diagnosed with TS as a child, and despite being told it was unlikely he would attend mainstream school, he proved everyone wrong by not only achieving 11 GCSE's and 3 A levels, but also graduating from University. Matt has a young neice with TS and knowing the challenges that she faces, he wants to inspire her to achieve her ambitions. Good luck Matt! You are truly inspirational!

Click here to donate to Matt's fundraising page 

 

Filippo Ferrario 

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This will be Filippo's 7th marathon and his first in London. Hailing from Italy, Filippo and his family are based in the UK and he splits his time between Italy and the UK.  Filippo has a close friend who's sone has been diagnosed with TS so he hopes to raise awareness and donations from his many contacts through his work in the financial industry. In bocca al lupo Filippo!

Click here to donate to Filippo's fundraising page

   

 Richard Ward 

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Diagnosed with TS aged 11, Richard experienced bullying and stigma growing up. Fast forward a few years and Richard is now a secondary school teacher who has supported pupils with TS. As a newbie-runner, this is a huge challenge for Richard, but he is determined to raise as much money and awareness for TA, to help the next generation to be more accepted into society. We know you can do it Richard!

Click here to donate to Richard's fundraising page

 

Many Smiton

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As a Clinical Psychologist, Mandy has loved working with and supporting children and adolescents with tics and TS over the last ten years.

She has chosen to raise funds for TA to help with much needed services and running a marathon seemed the best way; Mandy has been running as a way to look after her own emotional well-being for several years but has never run a marathon before. She is so pleased to be able to take up this challenge for Tourettes Action! You've got this Mandy!

Click here to donate to Mandy's fundraising page

 

 Paul Davis 

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Paul resides in Reading, Pennsylvania, USA and has a wife and two sons, one of which has ADHD. A keen runner fsince 2013, he has completed Berlin, Boston and New York marathons for charity, and is delighted to accept a place for London with TA. His ultimate goal is to also run Tokyo and Chicago to earn the 'Marathon Majors' medal.

His motto is 'Work hard and train harder, stay humble and finish the race. It doesn't matter if you finish it in 3 hrs or 5hrs you're out there giving yourself and you earned the spot'. We look forward to welcoming Paul to the UK and supporting his 'tourist' marathon when he comes to London. 

 

Martin Cooper - BALLOT place runner

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Having received a highly coveted ballot place for VLM, Martin has generously chosen to fundraise for TA. His inspiration is his son Aiden, who was diagnosed with TS in 2019. Having little knowledge of the condition apart from the stereotypical misconceptions, the family found a wealth of helpful information on the TA website, which has inspired them to give something back to the charity.

During the covid pandemic Aidan suffered more than most. His anxiety rocketed causing him trouble with the simplest everyday things. As his anxiety rises so does the intensity and frequency of his tics. Using coping strategies provided by TA, the family are gradually starting to get their son back. 

To show his support for Tourettes Action, Martin will be running not one, but two marathons in 2 weeks! London on 3 October and Manchester on 10 October 2021. What a star!!!

Click here to donate to Martin's fundraising page

 

Karla Hall

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TA is a charity close to Karla's heart as her 11 year old nephew was diagnosed with Tourettes and Autism a few years ago. Seeing the physical and emotional roller coaster that Tourettes brings to his life, along with the impact it has on the whole family is what motivated Karla to choose TA when she secured her prized ballot place for the marathon.

Her nephew and his family were lucky enough to go to TICFest which they found to be an invaluable experience. If it wasn’t for TA, opportunities like this would not be available, so Karla hopes that her fundraising allows us to continue to offer vital support and services for the TS community. Good luck Karla!

Click here to donate to Karla's fundraising page

 

Pete Andrews

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Pete's challenge started out as Manchester Marathon in Apr 2020 to raise funds for TA. Thanks to covid, that was postponed. The challenge then became Manchester and Yorkshire Marathons in Oct 2020, but they also never happened. Finally, the rescheduled events then became Manchester and Yorkshire in Oct 2021 and then Pete spotted the TA Virtual VLM places, so decided why not! The challenge is now an epic 3 marathons in 3 weeks!

A few years ago, Pete's son Elliot was diagnosed with TS which also bought to his attention that Pete has lived with tics all his life. He will be running a total of 78.6 miles to raise funds and awareness of TS. You are amazing Pete!

Click here to donate to Pete's fundraising page

 

Giovanni Arsciwals

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Giovanni is a community paediatrician based in Scotland who is grateful for the support Tourettes Action provides to the children and families he see's in clinic.

Giovanni also has TS and hopes that his run will help increase awareness about TS and also gain support for Tourettes Action. As the Virtual Virgin London marathon will be without spectators, it can be quite a long, lonely run, so i'm sure everyone in the TS community will join us in wishing Giovanni lots of luck for his epic challenge - run like the wind!

Click here to donate to Giovanni's fundraising page

 

Alison Longdin

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Alison's 11 year old daughter was diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome in early 2021. She started with few very minor tics from a young age, but in March last year a vocal tic began and then from September lots of motor and vocal tics developed. She currently has 18 different tics.

She tics nearly every minute of the day. Some of the tics cause her pain, they prevent her from sleeping, and she can be very conscious of them. Somehow, through all of that, she must try and concentrate at school and deal with starting senior school this year.  Alison is absolutely amazed at how well she copes with this every single day. 

Whilst she can’t magic the Tourettes away, Alison feels by raising money for Tourettes Action she is helping her by raising awareness of a condition which people know very little about. Good luck Alison!

Click here to donate to Alison's fundraising page

 

Toni & Dan Howard

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Toni and Dan are both running the Virtual VLM  because their eldest son has TS and TA have been a tremendous source of support and information during his TS journey. This will be their first ever marathon!

When Sam was diagnosed, they felt devastated, terrified, and totally alone. TA were there and gave much needed support such as a list of trusted doctors, support groups, buddy support and a helpline to call at any time. 

Sam makes Toni and Dan proud every day and they want to show him they have his back 100% by running and raising funds. Good luck to you both!

Click here to donate to Toni & Dan's fundraising page

 

Steph Rae

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Steph's son Aaron was diagnosed with Tourettes in 2019 at the age of 10. The past two years have been a roller coaster, good days, bad days, smiles, tears, laughter, crying. And throughout it all there has been a severe lack of support for helping him through his struggles.

Steph wants to help Tourettes Action raise awareness and funds to help children and adults get the support they need and deserve. So on the 3rd October she will be running the Virtual London Marathon. As a self confessed 'non runner', Steph knows this will be a big challenge, trying to juggle work and training but says it will be only one day of struggling, nothing compared to what her son, Aaron, goes through daily. Good luck Steph!

Click here to make a donation to Steph's fundraising page

 

Kay Everitt

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Kay and hubby Dale will be running and walking 26.2 miles in 24hrs on the 3rd October to raise donations for Tourettes Action. Their son Declan has TS, and TA has become their go-to for help and support as there is so little other support available to them.

Declan has daily struggles, and the family find it heart-breaking to see him take medication at the tender age of 11, mostly to benefit others. They want Declan to know how proud they are of him, and by running and raising awareness, they hope to increase acceptance of neurodiverse differences. Good luck to you both!

Click here to donate to Kay's fundraising page

 


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