Aylesbury Vale wheelchair user set to complete marathon endurance challenge

A woman who lives in Aylesbury Vale has been completing an extended endurance challenge in her wheelchair to raise funds for Brain Tumour Research.

Sharon Mynard, who lives in Quainton and has been in a wheelchair for nearly 40 years, is aiming to push herself 2,795 miles. That distance was chosen as it represents the equivalent distance of the circumference of the UK.

Sharon aims to complete her ‘pushathon’ in just 630 days, which works out to be 4.44 miles each day.

She is on schedule to complete the challenge on Wednesday in Bournemouth (26 July).

As of Friday (21 July) she had completed 2,700 miles, meaning she needs to roughly complete a marathon-length distance to complete the challenge on time.

Sharon has been in a wheelchair since she was 16 after she was involved in a horse riding accident. Despite this, in the last few years she has pushed herself, both literally and figuratively, to complete an equivalent marathon in her chair.

In doing so, she raised a lot of money for Brain Tumour Research.

The inspiration behind the challenge came when a dear friend of Sharon’s, Rory Gilsenan, was diagnosed with a brain tumour, and she witnessed first-hand the devastation they can cause.

Sharon said: “Raising money for Brain Tumour Research has become a passion (some people would say an obsession!) for me. Watching Rory go through surgery, and seeing what his family went through, was heartbreaking.

“I was looking for something to get my teeth into a new focus, following the break up of my marriage. Fundraising was something I could do, hence me starting to push. I have pushed a 5k, a full marathon and organised the Lockdown Lollop. Since I started, the cause has become even closer to me, as my partner of two years, Tim, has had brain surgery twice.”

Sharon is now hoping to raise as much as she can for Brain Tumour Research. Further details on the challenge and information on how you can support Sharon during the pushathon can be found online here.