Property Vision Leeds Marathon team

Running in search of a cure: a Property Vision-sponsored team is tackling the Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon raising funds for two charities, The 4Ed Foundation and The MND Association
 
A team working within the property industry is gearing up to run the Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon in May this year. Athletes we are not, and this isn't just any run: It's a goal driven by a desire to raise vital funds for two incredible charities — The 4Ed Foundation and The MND Association.
 
Motor Neurone Disease (MND) is a terrible and cruel disease. However, until Doddie Weir and the wider rugby community literally picked up the ball and ran with it, most of us knew very little about MND unless we had been directly impacted by it.
 
All of us running share a connection through the wider property community and we’re uniting to honour both Ed Slater, the former Leicester and Gloucester Rugby player, and Rob Burrow, the Leeds Rhinos legend. Both men have inspired countless individuals with their own personal fights against Motor Neurone Disease and although Rob sadly died in July 2024, his courage in the face of this devastating illness, and the support of his great friend Kevin Sinfield, has sparked a movement as well as founding the Leeds MND marathon in 2023.
 
The Property Vision Team, which draws from all corners (and ages!) of the property industry, are determined to contribute in a small way to the fight to find a cure for MND. We also have the support of property journalist and Country Life magazine’s former property editor, Arabella Youens, whose brother, Christian, was diagnosed with MND a few weeks before the UK went into the first lockdown. He died aged 50 in July 2023 and you can read Arabella’s story below.
 
The Property Vision team comprises the following:

• Claire Alers-Hankey (Greenslade Taylor Hunt)
• Tom Bedford
• Sarah Brown (Knight Frank)
• Emma Campbell (Knight Frank)
• Ed Clarkson (Property Vision)
• Jonathan Cunliffe (Jonathan Cunliffe Ltd)
• Xara Grigg (Knight Frank)
• Adam McKelvey (Property Vision)
• Nick Metson
• George Nares (Blue Book Agency)
• David Redvers (Tweenhills Stud)
• Alicia Rice (Farrer & Co)
• Tom Ringland (Farrer & Co)
• Mark Turner (John Bray Estates)

Why The 4Ed Foundation and the MND Association?
 
4Ed, was established in 2022 following the MND diagnosis of Ed Slater, a professional rugby player for Gloucester Rugby at the time, with the vision of creating an inclusive community for those impacted by MND and their families. The Foundation provides vital resources and support to enhance the quality of life for those affected by the disease in the form of financial assistance and emotional support.
 
The MND Association is a national organisation that funds vital research into finding a cure for MND and works tirelessly to raise awareness of the impact of the disease. The Association also provides care, support, and information for those living with MND and their carers.  
 
Both charities play an essential role in improving the lives of those affected by MND, and through their marathon journey, the Property Vision team hope to make a tangible impact.
 
The Challenge Ahead

The Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon 2025 has seen this group of determined individuals push their limits, training through the winter months with the aim of braving the streets and hills of Leeds on Sunday May 11th to raise crucial funds.
 
By participating in this challenge, the team hope that they are doing their part to ensure that future generations have a better chance of a life free from MND. The runners also hope that their collective effort will inspire others to join the fight, through spreading the word and making a donation.
 
How Can You Help?

The fight against MND is horrifically underfunded and so as the marathon approaches, the team is seeking sponsorship.
 
Property Vision and the runners themselves have covered the costs of the marathon, so that every donation, no matter how small, will go directly towards funding critical MND research and supporting the families of those affected by the disease. By sponsoring this group, you are helping ensure that those living with MND receive the care, support and hope they need.
 
The team is therefore grateful for any support you can offer, and your generosity will help keep the spirit of Doddie Weir, Rob Burrow and Ed Slater alive, as well as contributing towards the fight to develop a cure for this cruel, cruel disease.
 
The impact of MND, by Arabella Youens
 
When doctors or any health professionals hear about my brother’s fight with MND, they often admit it’s the disease that they most dread getting themselves. There’s no sugar-coating it; Motor Neurone Disease is a cruel way to die.
 
I was cycling on my cargo bike through Shepherd’s Bush when my brother called me on February 5, 2020. It was my birthday so he was doing his brotherly duty. He’d been to see a doctor that morning to have a nerve conduction test on his leg which involved placing small electrodes on the skin and measuring the response to mild electrical pulses. After, he was told he’d be referred to a neurologist and not to look at Google. I was baffled by this news as I had no idea that he had been suffering from anything at all, but I can remember the exact part of the Green that I was on when he told me he’d inexplicably tripped over in the arrivals hall of Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport the previous week—and it hadn’t been the first time. While he spoke of his embarrassment, I went cold. The previous summer, I’d read an interview with a man who’d published a book titled, A Short History of Falling Over. He had MND and the first symptom was tripping up for no apparent reason.
 
Saying nothing about that, we ended the call and I continued on my journey with a sickness in the pit of my stomach. Three weeks later, he received an initial diagnosis from the neurologist on February 26. There was still a chance it could be something else—there is no biomarker or definitive test for MND, and the only way to diagnose it is to rule out everything else. But following an MRI to check that there was no trapped nerve causing problems in his balance, the neurologist came to the grim conclusion. There is currently no cure, and just one medication, discovered in 1995 almost by accident, that prolongs life by a matter of months. Once a person has been diagnosed with MND, there is only one outcome and the care plan is limited to palliative measures.
 
It’s classed as a rare disease and yet the chances of getting it are about 1 in 300, that’s about one person in every cinema auditorium. Stephen Hawking put MND on the map but gave people an odd impression of MND by living so long with the condition. In reality, the average life expectancy is between one and five years. For my brother, it was 3.5 years. During that time, his three children, who were 13, 15 and 17 at the time of diagnosis, sat their public exams and watched their dad become increasingly paralysed as the disease took over. His youngest had just completed her GCSEs when he died, he’d turned 50 not two months before. The disease steals parts of the body one by one. As his legs weakened, first the right, then the left, he used a walker to move around. But when the inevitable falls got too scary, he was confined to an electric wheelchair which he operated with a hand. Hoists were used to get him in and out of bed although when a storm cut the power at their house, he had to spend the night upright in his chair. A cruel further discomfort.
 
For a time, his arms worked ok but then they weakened and he could no longer feed himself—or do anything for himself, including scratching his nose. He needed wraparound care. Towards the end of his life, he increasingly relied on a ventilator to help him breathe as the muscles around his lungs weren’t strong enough to expel the air. In the end, he lost his power to swallow which was terrifying as choking was a real concern. It was time to say goodbye.
 
In all the time that he’d suffered with MND, he never once complained to me about the situation. He battled on so bravely and so stoically with such courage that I just still today can’t fathom how he managed. My parents and I were there with his wife, his GP and his wonderful nurse when he died at home on July 13, 2023. He is much missed by everyone who loved him but no one would’ve wanted his suffering to continue a moment longer.
 
Something my brother witnessed was the surge of publicity generated by Doddie Weir and Rob Burrow’s campaigns to raise awareness about MND. But research into the causes and finding a potential cure for MND remains woefully underfunded; it’s largely down to charitable giving and fundraising by brilliant people like the Property Vision marathon team. We all know what miracles scientists can conjure when supplied with the necessary support and so I urge any of you to dig deep to support their efforts and move a step closer to a world free of MND.