A determined fundraiser has taken on his toughest challenge yet to support vital neurological research at Leeds Teaching Hospitals.

Mike Bosomworth, who turned 72 in November, celebrated his birthday in a different way to
most people his age, by taking on a challenge to run 72 miles in 24 hours.

On the 4^th July, Mike joined a group of people from across the region taking on Endure 24 Leeds, raising over £1,500 for the Yorkshire Brain Appeal, a linked charity of Leeds Hospitals Charity.

Over the past two years Mike has battled cancer, undergoing major oral surgery and intensive radiotherapy treatment, but he has remained determined to give back through an extraordinary test of endurance. Mike, a retired clinical scientist says:

“I’m still here and active at 72, and I’m incredibly grateful for that. I wanted to take on a challenge that truly reflected both my age and the importance of the cause, and running a mile for every year of my life within 24 hours felt like exactly that.”

“This challenge is by far the most difficult I’ve ever undertaken. But, if it helps support the incredible work happening here in Leeds and makes a difference to future patients, it will be more than worth it.”

Mike is no stranger to epic fundraising challenges which have been a defining part of his life over the past two decades.

It all started in 2000, with a gruelling bike ride from John O’Groats to Land’s End raising around £6,000 for charities, sparking a passion that would lead to thousands of miles covered, countless hours of training, and nearly £30,000 raised for causes close to Mike’s heart.

Since then, Mike’s challenges have grown in scale and ambition, from cycling across the United States, from New York to San Francisco, and in 2018 pedalling across Canada, from Vancouver to the remote village of Moisie in Quebec. Both of these epic journeys stretched over 4,340 miles and took Mike just under seven weeks to complete.

Mike’s journey didn’t end there, he trekked up Mount Kilimanjaro, skydived, ran the Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon two years running, and celebrated his 70th birthday by completing an Ironman-distance triathlon.

The series of physical challenges were driven by a personal mission to support brain research at Leeds Teaching Hospitals, with a family history of dementia and Mike’s professional background as a Clinical Scientist and Clinical Services Lead in Blood Sciences and Specialist Laboratory Medicine.

Funds raised will support cutting-edge neurological research in Leeds, including innovative multi-arm multi-stage (MAMS) clinical trials. These pioneering trials enable researchers to test multiple potential treatments simultaneously, significantly speeding up the process of developing new therapies for conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and motor neurone disease.

Professor Helen Ford, Research Lead for Neurosciences at Leeds Teaching Hospitals says: “This type of research is a real game-changer. It offers a faster route to getting new drugs to patients who desperately need them, and that’s why we’re so grateful to fundraisers like Mike for helping us undertake this important work.”

You can support Mike by donating to his fundraising page here