David Millar

It has been 20 years since my life was devastated when I suffered a spinal cord injury while playing rugby for a season in New Zealand. When I suffered my injury the thought of a cure was a distant hope and progress has been slow. Currently, however, a number of treatments are on the verge of moving from the laboratory to clinical trials and as such are close to achieving one of the holy grails of medical science - repair of the spinal cord. Unfortunately research into spinal cord injuries is not a government priority and is not attractive to the large pharmaceutical companies.

That leaves it up to charity and the support of people who have been touched in some way by such injuries - hence The Mighty Push!

My 1st training session for The Mighty Push was on Saturday 25th July 2009 and the last one was on 6th April 2010. During training I went out on 123 occasions and covered 958 miles in 193 hours over the winter. In addition to this I spent many miserable house training indoors on the turbo trainer.

But now it's getting close to the off!!

We leave the UK on the 2nd April 2010 and arrive in Christchurch, New Zealand on the 4th. After all the planning, training, organising, headaches, logistical nightmares, scheming and general life absorbing months, it's almost time to go. Our 1st leg starts from Burwood Spinal Injury Unit in Christchurch at 9.30am on 8th April and we are hoping for sunshine, no wind and quiet roads. We will finish 250 miles later near Dunedin after handcycling along roads, canal systems and gravel tracks.We aim to complete the challenge in 10 to 11 days and thus hope to cover a marathon distance each day.

I will be supported along the way by my wife Lynn and a host of mates who will be accompanying me on foot, bicycle or car.

We will keep you updated on our progress through this website and will hopefully include plenty of photos and details of all the trials and tribulations of the journey. I'm looking forward to having your company along the way and please send your messages of support and encouragement through the message board.

To donate or see more details of the Mighty Push and its supporters go to www.themightypush.com