Support my challenge to leave MS behind!
My name’s Ivo and my beloved mother (thrice weekly letters to boarding school, cracking carbonara, has basically given up on asking me to tidy my childhood bedroom) is one of the 130,000 others in the UK living with multiple sclerosis. I’ve done various bits of fundraising for the MS Society over the years, either through stand up comedy gigs or long runs (for which I train by being prolifically late for most trains, appointments, etc).
In a rare and quite aggressive moment of chutzpah, and so that I can declare it an “ultra Machathon” (sort of a pun), I’ve elected, for maximum attention and pain, to get my whole 50k done in one go, on the last day of April, in between performances at the wonderful Machynlleth comedy festival. If successful, I’ll have completed the challenge - perhaps for the first time ever in my life - well ahead of schedule, and in absolutely stunning Welsh countryside; the flip side is that it is very likely to ruin a weekend I’ve been looking forward to for three years.
The good/even worse news is that I’m encouraging others at the festival - perhaps someone reading this blurb right now - to join me. After my originally proposed route to Aberdyfi was vetoed by friends and family on safety grounds, I will instead be running a 5k loop from the centre of town to Penegoes and back, a cool ten times, each loop efficiently/hubristically timed to start every half hour between 10am and 3pm. A selection of guilt-tripped and potentially quite hungover comics will join me for their own 5k, and so can you. There’s no pressure to stay with me should you wish to run faster, slower, or merely avoid my panting small talk about carb-loading and how my gig went on the Friday night. But joining for any small bit of this run will help raise money and awareness for a cause very close to my heart.
The good news is, the weather at Mach Fest has never been anything other than sunny and dry, so peak running conditions are guaranteed.
For potential participants, I’ll be posting exact details of routes, timings and running mates closer to the event, so if you’d like to take part, you can check back in here. Although I’d also advise contacting me via this page or social media so I can get a sense of the Elite Squad I’m assembling, and potentially badger you to set up your own May 50k page.
For the vast majority unavailable or uninterested in that, all donations are very welcome.
Thank you for reading my essay!
My Updates

Brighton marathon!
Just had a gorgeous time by the seaside for 3 hours and 22 minutes (plus a hearty lunch and some unsuccessful vintage shopping afterwards). A delicious appetite whetter for the Machathon though I wasn’t exactly bursting to do a further eight kilometres at the end of it. I did not seek sponsorship for this run (the egotistical pleasure was all mine!) but please feel FREE to donate in advance to the Mach one off the back of itThank you to my Sponsors

£400
Rhys James

£300
May 50k Macynlleth Comedy Festival Street Collection

£262.50
M Marden
Run as if you’re being chased naked and wet across the moors by two henchmen my friend…

£250
Jack & Caz Lambert
Great effort, great venue, great cause, great man!

£210
Alex, Alex & Ryo
We’re cheering you on from afar for a wonderful cause!

£160.38
Machynlleth Comedy Collection
From Machynlleth Comedy Festival show

£120
Orla Cunnane

£105
Iain S
Well done Ivo! A truly impressive feet (feat?)!

£105
Lup F
Good Luck!

£105
Barbara Brown

£100
Antonia And Oliver Greene
Lots of luck and love, Oliver and Antonia xx

£100
Alex Beavan

£100
James And Sara Harvie
Fantastic effort, Ivo!!

£100
Joe De Sousa
Hope the Sunk Cost Fallacy playlist was not required

£52.50
Kevin J Farris

£52.50
Tom, Rosie, Grace & Isla
Go Ivo! Good luck from all the Greavesies!

£52.50
Anonymous
Thanks for looking after Louis Barry and Kaine Kesler Hayden!!

£52.50
Anonymous

£52.50
Minty Crawley
Good luck-factor 50 required today!! ☀️☀️

£52.50
Virginia Graham

£52.50
Alexander Kealy
Good luck with the last 10k!

£52.50
Rishi Patel
Love ya

£52.50
Anonymous

£52.50
Anonymous

£52.50
Craig And Eithne
Good Luck Ivo. And so well done! Craig and Eithne

£52.50
Don
Bon running and bravo

£52.50
Tom Craine
Brilliant brilliant work. Love you man x

£52.50
David Mead
Ivo, seen you many time in past decade - and you've been brilliant. This is a fantastic idea and worthy cause - close to my heart as my sister has very debilitating MS, now 25 years on

£52.50
Chris, Sophie And Isobel
Be sure to have a nice cup of camomile around the 40k mark

£50
Stuart Laws

£50
Jamie Walden
Good man good music good legs good luck

£50
Fiona Unwin
Good luck Ivo! You will smash it!!

£43
Louise B
Donated in loving memory of Dev Varma. Good luck Ivo.

£40
Kathryn Murphy
Astonishingly impressive feat - good luck Ivo you will nail it! Xxx

£31.50
Gary Thapa
Great to run with you today Ivo, best of luck on your fundraising challenge!

£31.50
Anonymous

£31.50
Anonymous
Good luck with the training and event 👍

£31.50
Kate Edmunds
I just worked out how much this is in miles. You’re superhuman (and also a super human). Go Ivo!

£31.50
Antony Boston
Good luck my friend. X

£30
Kimberley Muir
Congratulations again and thanks for a lovely day! Kim & Adam

£26.25
Sam @ Sound Knowledge
Good luck, Ivo! A brilliant cause.

£26.25
Anonymous

£26.25
Tom Lambert
Donation will be withdrawn if ‘Mr November’ doesn’t make the playlist

£26.25
Alice Jones
Well done Ivo! Great work x

£26.25
Olivia Digby
Best of luck!

£26.25
Julia O
Go iVo gO!

£26.25
Terry
50k is madness but good luck , great cause

£26.25
Amy
Good luck Ivo!

£26.25
Becky Fox
Good luck Ivo! x

£26.25
Sophi
Amazing cause, fantastic plan, will be cheering you on!

£26.25
Lily Morris

£26.25
Ben
Amazing man!, Wishing you and your family the best of health 🙏🏼 Thankyou for your dedication to the cause!

£26.25
Chris Moore
Jog on Ivo, best of luck.

£26.25
Ruth Angus

£26.25
Helena
Amazing! Good luck Ivo x

£26.25
Arthur Kendrick
Good luck buddy! Amazing time in Brighton!

£26.25
Anonymous
Go Ivo!

£26.25
Lizzie And Frostie
Well done you!

£26.25
Anonymous

£26.25
Matt A

£26.25
Anonymous

£26.25
Hannah Rowley

£26.25
Susannah Anderson
Good Luck!! Xxx

£26.25
Adam
Cracking effort Ivo, for a great cause.

£26.25
Charlie Proctor
Nice one Ivo. Sending all the luck and love and energetic vibes, Charlie and Chris

£25
Tom Jerrard
Top stuff Ivo, good luck. Tom & Georgina

£25
Alice Baggaley
Hope you're being fuelled by greek yoghurt and bananas!

£25
Jodie

£25
Margaret Scott

£25
Tom Acha
Well done lad! Al from the White Lion will be proud of you

£25
Adam Brace

£25
Amelia Webb
Sounds horrible!!! Good luck!!!

£25
Pax Lowey
Congrats on a stunning achievement — and great to encounter one of your many laps!

£25
Beth Hoskins
Good luck Ivo!

£25
P And Will
We will be there in spirit cheering you on from the sidelines (10 times!) xxx

£21
Holly Burn

£21
Anonymous

£21
Jillian Davis

£21
Ivo Graham

£21
Kameron

£21
Fi Makujina
Well done Ivo! This is a great cause that means a lot to me, as my sister lived with MS for many years. I hope the run went well for you and you raise a great amount for the charity.

£21
Ella

£21
Matthew Murdoch
Good luck! (From one of the London reds)

£20
Mhairi Beveridge
💪💪💪💪💪💪💪

£20
Jennifer Yin
Great work and good luck!

£20
The Philosopher
A great cause (and carbonara) good luck!

£20
Lee Dainty
Congratulations Ivo - you did it!

£20
Conor
Top work, Ivo!

£20
Julia Glennon

£20
Jonny Sharples
A frankly ludicrous challenge to undertake. I mean, imagine willingly going to Wales.

£15.75
Maria Morris

£15
Anonymous

£10.50
James Giddings

£10.50
Karen Finch

£10.50
Sue And Phillip Jones
Don't get bored or dizzy and above all don't lose count!!

£10.50
Simon Duck

£10.50
Mach Fan
Thanks for doing this and raising awareness.

£10.50
Andrew Bates
Fantastic!

£10.50
Steve Alcock

£10.50
Amanda F
Great work Ivo

£10.50
Lynsey Fox

£10.50
Anonymous

£10.50
Ross Fairbairn

£10.50
Anonymous

£10.50
Julia Prestbury
well done Ivo x

£10.50
Rebecca Cartwright-teakle

£10.50
Harry Hussey

£10.50
Nathaniel Metcalfe

£10.50
Anonymous

£10.50
Aimee Hardman

£10
Suzy Conway
Huge task, great work!

£10
Neill Aitken
Great cause, good luck Ivo

£10
Michelle Steer
Favourite show in Mach!

£10
Bertie Moores

£10
Sarah Kalwarowsky
This is daft. Please don't die.

£10
James Rickards

£10
Daveyex
Well done and good luck.

£5.25
Katie Allen
Llongyfarchiadau Ivo! Superb running!

£5.25
Emmie Shand
Thank you for doing this for the MS Society!

£5.25
John Wildy
Good luck Ivo, love an MS'er.

£5.25
Anonymous

£5.25
Tom
Good Luck Ivo!

£5.25
Matt Webb
Good work Ivo. Really appreciate your efforts.

£5.25
Anonymous

£5
Clare
Spare bed available in Hockley, Essex 🤣
5 x Ruby Blue weeknights for your efforts here. The full working week.