Quainton woman set to take wheelchair push to British GT race at Snetterton

A wheelchair user from Quainton who is doing a virtual long-distance ‘pushathon’, has been invited to take her challenge to the qualifying day of this weekend’s British GT Championships.

Sharon Mynard is aiming to complete her 2,795-mile virtual journey around the coast of Great Britain on July 26.

This will mark 40 years since the day she broke her neck in a horse riding accident, which left her paralysed and confined to a wheelchair from the age of 16.

To help her achieve this feat, Sharon – who has about 170 miles left to go – has been invited to push around the Snetterton Circuit in Norfolk after the qualifying day of the Intelligent Money British GT Championship ends on Saturday (June 17).

The 56-year-old, who has carried out the majority of her challenge at the large stud and livery she runs near Aylesbury, said: “I’m really excited about being invited to the race circuit. It’ll be nice to do a push somewhere different for a change. For me, it’ll just be a case of turning up and hoping it’s not too hot, because I’m not at all good in the heat.”

Sharon is fundraising for Brain Tumour Research, in honour of her friend Rory Gilsenan, a fellow equestrian and champion showman from Tingewick who died of a brain tumour in April 2020, and her partner, Tim Belfield, who has had two brain tumours removed.

By the time her challenge comes to an end, she will have been pushing for about 18 months, averaging more than two hours each day.

Sharon said: “I knew I’d be able to handle the mileage but the time commitment has been hard. At the moment, we’re foaling so I’m up with the mares a lot at night, and tired.”

She added: “I was really lucky to have somebody donate about six pairs of weight-lifting gloves, and they’ve been brilliant. I’m coming to the end of them now, but they should be able to make it to the end of the challenge.

“I also have a new chair. My old one is still going and I’m doing most of the pushing in that, but the new one’s there as a back-up.”

Rory Gilsenan, a renowned producer of show horses and working hunters, rode several of Sharon’s horses, including Dexter’s Puzzle, on whom he competed twice at the prestigious Horse of the Year Show (HOYS). He died at the age of 50, 18 months after being diagnosed with a glioblastoma (GBM) and just weeks after his first win at HOYS.

Sharon’s partner, Tim Belfield, 58, has had two low-grade meningiomas removed, the first in 2006 and the second in November 2018. He has lost his sense of smell and taste, and suffers from depression and anxiety as a result.

Sharon said: “What I’m doing doesn’t compare to the pain of losing Rory, or what Tim has had to go through with this disease, but I’m hoping it will help raise awareness of the charity and much-needed funds for a very under-funded area of cancer research.”

Anyone wishing to support Sharon can do so via her JustGiving page.