… if you were training for a marathon or the Ironman one day and were stuck in a wheelchair the next? Give up? Maybe!

Not Marcus Hees! "Mackes'" athletic highlights include: 1999 Swiss-Alpine-Marathon (48.7m/78,5km), 2000 Roth Ironman, Ötztal Bike Marathon (149m/240km), 2001 Paris-Marathon, Cologne-Marathon, Swiss Ironman, 2002 Lanzarote Ironman, Frankfurt Ironman, Hawaii Ironman

In 2004, Marcus was hit by a car during training and sustained life-threatening injuries. He was in a coma and the doctors had to fight for his life. After extended stays in hospitals and rehab centers, and despite extremely limited mobility, he is doing better now. His family has been taking care of him since 2006 and things are beginning to look up. In addition to the steps taken in rehabilitation, a dolphin therapy, financed by his former employment Orthomed, led to much improvement.

In order to encourage and assist his progress, his friends organized a Charity-Spinning-Event, in co-operation with the Enjoy Sports and Fitness Club in Dortmund. Our motto was "Keep it up Marcus". We're trying to finance another dolphin therapy.

250 people joined us for the 12-hour spinning session, on 65 bikes. Aside from a few single riders, there were enough sports fans that divided up into groups. Animated by the instructors and the thought of sweating for a good cause, we did just that from 8pm until 8am the next day.

Of course an event like this doesn't go unnoticed. In addition to our sponsors, donations from studio members helped make it a success. The press and local television were made aware of the event and all articles and reports can be found at
http://www.enjoy-online.de/index.php?id=84

So, after a short night and donations from sponsors, studio members and participants, we ended up with a sum of over 10 000 Euros. Of course, the treatment is costly and more contributions are always welcome. We're still saying: "KEEP IT UP MARCUS!"

Donations can be transferred to this account: - Dortmunder Volksbank - Acct. Holder: Routing No.: 44160014 - Acct. No.: 2502666101 Re: "Keep it up Marcus".