Over the past two decades, Mike Bosomworth’s fundraising challenges have been a defining part of his life.

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 even celebrated his 70^th 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.

For Mike the Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon became a symbolic milestone. In 2024, he ran it shortly after the Ironman triathlon, without training, he said:

“I regretted not training specifically for the marathon, as I crossed the finish line just over the five-hour mark. So I signed up to take on the challenge again this year, in recovery from surgery and radiotherapy on cancer in my tongue and neck, my goal was simply to finish. It took me 5 hours and 25 minutes, a slower time, but a powerful personal victory.

“The atmosphere at the marathon was incredible, the support around the course was amazing. Tackling the Chevin was definitely the hardest part, but it was all worth is when I made it to the end!