From England Sevens to 100 mile run for best friend’s dad
Former England Sevens player, Sam Edgerley, is running 100 miles in 24 hours down the Thames Path for Myeloma UK.
Former England Sevens player, Sam Edgerley, is running 100 miles in 24 hours down the Thames Path for Myeloma UK, in support of his best friend’s dad Bob Munro who was diagnosed with the incurable blood cancer.
Tackling the mammoth ‘UltraBob 100’ challenge, Sam, 30, who also played for Doncaster Knights, will set off from Putney Bridge at 4pm on September 30. He will be joined along the way by family and friends, including Bob’s son Joe Munro, who has played rugby for Nottingham, Ealing Trailfinders and Rosslyn Park, and fellow former England Sevens players, Christian Lewis-Pratt.
Both Joe and Christian, alongside two other friends Caldon Pike and Will Newland will race the last 32 miles – an ultra-marathon – with Sam to the finish line.
“A 100-mile run is a mere patch on the journey Bob has battled through,” said Sam, a father of one from Wandsworth. “I lost my dad when I was quite young, and I really valued him as an older male figure. He’s everything I aspire to be: an amazing husband and a fantastic dad. He’s an incredible guy and we’re all blessed to know him. He has really inspired me through the resilience he has shown over the last 10 years in his fight against myeloma.”
The value of research
He added: “Bob's been fortunate to ride the explosion in new myeloma drugs for the past 10 years. The research and development for these drugs has been massively accelerated by patient-inspired fundraising, such as Bob's own London to Paris ride a few years ago, and numerous family and friends’ events, which funnel money into Myeloma UK's clinical trials and advocacy work.
“By January 2022 Bob had exhausted all the licensed drugs but was lucky enough to get on a trial for a completely new experimental class of drug. He's since suffered six months of the worst bunch of side effects and bad luck – but the results have been spectacular, smashing his myeloma to the lowest levels since diagnosis. Proof, if ever you needed it, of the value of research, clinical trials and the fundraising that helps make it possible.”
Myeloma occurs in the bone marrow and currently affects over 24,000 people in the UK. Despite being the third most common type of blood cancer. While it is incurable, myeloma is treatable in the majority of cases. More than half of patients face a wait of over five months to receive the right diagnosis and around a third are diagnosed through an emergency route. By that point, many are experiencing severe or life-threatening symptoms.
A keen cyclist, Bob, aged 62, had planned to ride from Pisa to Rome together with Sam and his family when the pandemic hit, then as we started to come out of lockdown, Bob’s cancer returned. That’s when Sam came up with the ‘UltraBob 100’ instead.
Sam played for England Sevens between 2011 and 2014, before signing with Doncaster Knights, where he stayed until 2017. He now works as an asset manager.
He said: “We wanted to continue to raise as much awareness and as much money as possible to fund trials and new drugs. It really has been amazing to see the tangible difference that charity events such as this have made to Bob and his family over the last 10 years, allowing Bob to meet his granddaughter, see his son Ross get married and live life in great spirits as he so deserves to.”
Sam’s amazing says Bob
Bob Munro said: “I’m bowled over by Sam’s incredible initiative. I suggested that 100km might be a safer and more realistic option but he wouldn’t have it. He messaged back: 'No way, it has to be 100 miles. As tough as your fight with myeloma'. He is a force of nature. Everything he does, he goes 100 miles an hour. He is absolutely amazing."
The ‘UltraBob 100’ promises to be one of Sam’s most physical and daunting challenges yet. He has been running 15 miles to and from work every day as part of his training. training into his packed schedule.
“The furthest I’ve ever run is 40 miles. I wanted to do something that was out of my comfort zone but that’s nothing compared to Bob’s 10-year battle with myeloma and the resilience he has shown. It’s taken a huge toll on him and on his family but Bob is so positive and grabs every minute of life.”
To make a donation go to this page.
For more information about myeloma or to get in touch with Myeloma UK go here. Myeloma UK runs an Infoline on 0800 980 3332.
