Celebrities embark on 555-mile cycle for MND research and deliver Lions match ball

Independent

11 hours ago

A team of celebrities and rugby players are preparing for a 555-mile cycle challenge around the island of Ireland to raise funds for research into motor neurone disease (MND) in memory of the late Doddie Weir.
Weir died of MND aged 52 in November 2022, after years of campaigning to raise awareness of the condition and funds into research.
Scottish rugby legend Kenny Logan and his television presenter wife Gabby are among those preparing to take part in Doddie'5 Lions Challenge, cycling around 100 miles a day for six days, departing from Belfast on Sunday.
The team will cycle through counties including Galway, Limerick and Cork, to arrive in Dublin on June 20 and deliver the match ball to the Aviva Stadium for the British and Irish Lions' 1888 Cup clash with Argentina.
Some participants have had to pull out due to injury, including Weir's son Hamish, who will instead drive a support vehicle, while Scotland rugby stars Bryan Redpath and Hugo Southwell, and ex-Lions and Ireland international Rob Henderson, will also no longer be able to take part.
Football legend Ally McCoist, actor Jamie Bamber, former Harlequins player Mel Deane, and cancer campaigner Iain Ward will all take part alongside the Logans.
The challenge has raised more than £300,000 for My Name'5 Doddie Foundation and the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association so far, with hopes of reaching £500,000 before Sunday.
Kenny Logan will lead the team, and he has been doing intensive hill sessions on an exercise bike twice a week ahead of his second endurance fundraiser for MND research. He joined the Edinburgh to Paris cycle in 2023 which raised almost £1 million.
He said: 'We've lost a few to injury, and it just shows how demanding this is going to be. I've had my own aches and pains. No major injuries thankfully but I've definitely been reminded why I probably shouldn't be moving this much at my age.
'I'm most nervous about the hills. I convinced myself Ireland was flat – it's definitely not. But nerves are good. I've always had them before a big challenge.
'The support's been incredible. We've still got time to push, and every penny counts.
'Since Doddie died, awareness has grown massively – but we still need to fund research. The foundation has committed nearly £20 million already, which is phenomenal, but it's only the beginning.
'Doddie would be proud – but he'd be telling us to go further and faster. That's why we're doing this.'
He joked that McCoist needed some help with bike maintenance.
Logan said: 'Ally's been out and about, but his bike broke down the other day. I told him not to trust himself to check the batteries on his fancy gears – someone else needs to do that for him.'
Weir set up the My Name'5 Doddie Foundation in 2017, the year after he was diagnosed with MND.
All funds raised form the cycle will support the foundation to find effective treatments and ultimately a cure for MND.