Kenny's remarkable journey

Most people would mark the birthday of their departed sister with flowers or a special prayer. Not Kenny Smith though.

Grandfather Kenny is marking what would have been his sister Kathleen's 50th birthday by cycling 2,600 miles over 50 days unsupported across England, Wales and Scotland for the MS Trust.

Kenny knows from his own personal experiences there is always more to do. 1,000 people have been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis during the duration of Kenny's epic ride.

He has kept smiling despite the storms, the snakes and the heatwave when many people would have given up long ago (though in reality they wouldn't have been able to take on this epic trek in the first place.) Personal support from the likes of Davina McCall, Tom Odell and James Nesbitt have all helped.

Kenny is not superhuman. But I am in awe of him. Kenny Smith is quite remarkable. I am lucky in my job to meet many great people - famous politicians, TV stars and well known footballers. None of them have been as inspirational as Kenny. He is one of life's good guys, a chipper chippy as my dad would say.

Kenny Smith is one of the band of brothers and sisters who every year go the extra mile (or 2,600 in this case) to raise money for the MS Trust.

The money Kenny will raise on his ride will take his fundraising total for the MS Trust beyond £200,000. That's a remarkable sum. That's enough to pay for four new MS Nurses. Thank you Kenny from everyone at the MS Trust and thank you too for making a real difference to the lives of people with multiple sclerosis with the thousands of pounds you are raising.

I have sponsored Kenny, and I hope you have to. And I thanked him personally when he set off from Chichester on June 12. That didn't seem quite enough. So I thought the least I could do was to support Kenny on just one of the 50 legs he is riding.

Cycling in the slipstream of this inspiring grandfather on July 25 for the 50 odd miles from Peterborough to the MS Trust HQ in Letchworth is probably not the wisest thing to do in record breaking temperatures on the hottest day of the year (BTW I'm no spring chicken either).

But extreme temperatures for one day are nothing compared to the emotional and physical battering Kenny's body is experiencing on behalf of the MS Trust.

It is hard not to feel humbled by King Kenny's remarkable achievement.

To donate £5 text KSUK50 To 70970

To donate £10 text KSUK50 to 70191