4 days ago
Dumfries father and son raise more than £4,000 for MND Scotland through marathon challenge
Michael Cole, who has motor neurone disease, was pushed round the Edinburgh Marathon in a special sports wheelchair by son Andrew.
A father and son raised more than £4,000 for charity through a marathon challenge.
Michael Cole was pushed round the Edinburgh Marathon in a special sports wheelchair by son Andrew on Sunday to raise money for MND Scotland.
Michael, who is originally from Dumfries, was a keen runner, swimmer and cyclist before being diagnosed with motor neurone disease in November 2022.
Despite the weather, the pair completed Sunday's race in less than four hours – but more importantly raised more than £4,600 for MND Scotland.
Michael, 73, said: 'The crowds were amazing, there were tens of thousands of them along much of the course. Because we were wearing MND Scotland T-shirts and our numbers had our names on them we received endless cheers.
'I felt terrible because poor Andrew was grafting away doing all the hard work, I just sat there hoping we didn't crash!
'Thankfully he was cheered on and congratulated by many hundreds of our fellow runners.
'He ran a fantastic race, which was made much more difficult because he had to be constantly vigilant to steer me around all the countless potential hazards.
'The final stretch along the straight road into Musselburgh was lined with crowds of people, all of them shouting their support for all they were worth.
'The last two miles were just a wall of sound and smiling faces so I found the highly emotionally charged last few steps of what will very likely be my final sporting event completely overwhelming.'
During the race, Michael wore a Scottish Fire and Rescue Service cap as other son David is a fireman in Edinburgh.
He added: 'As we approached the finish line the announcer shouted out to all and sundry that, quoting MND's default saying 'here come two runners really making time count, MND is a horrible, horrible disease'. Sunday certainly counted for my family, friends and supporters.
'Try as I might I couldn't help but be in floods of tears for virtually the whole of the last mile but the last hundred metres really nailed it.
'We finished in three hours 56 minutes and three seconds, under four hours which was our goal, and so far we've raised £4,615, not including the gift aid of well over £900. My original target was £1,000 so we're thrilled and extremely humbled that so many people were so generous.'
Dumfries Running Club's Sandy Shankland and wife Linda cheered on Andrew and Michael – who now lives in Penicuik – with club members having previously supported the pair when they tackled the Great Scottish Run last year.
There's still time to sponsor them at JustGiving.
