<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times;">Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. This is my first go at fundraising and I hope you'll sponsor my run for CRUK.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times;">I have never really run before, other than to catch a bus or chase my kids in the park. It is proving to be hard work but I am aiming for a time of 2:30 to complete the course. It is the fundraising that has really spurred me on to try and aim for a good time as a first-timer. I hope you&rsquo;ll wish me luck and maybe turn up on race day to support everyone taking part.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="font-family: Times;">Why CRUK: </span></strong><span style="font-family: Times;">I am raising money for CRUK who have invested huge amounts of money into Cancer research. Rest assured your donation is going to an organisation dedicated to making a difference.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times;">My Grandma died from Lung Cancer twenty years ago and never got the chance to see me leave University or her great-grandchildren, she was just 68. CRUK and all the other cancer research being done worldwide is making deaths like hers less common. Please give generously.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times;">My target of &pound;2000 would allow the sequencing of a cancer genome. If you prefer to sponsor me by sequencing a genome directly, or helping the CRI genomics core to do so please get in touch at <a href="mailto:james.hadfield@cancer.org.uk">james.hadfield@cancer.org.uk</a>.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="font-family: Times;">Me and my lab: </span></strong><span style="font-family: Times;">I manage the genomics core&nbsp;facility at CRI. My lab offers broad spectrum genomic and Illumina next-gen sequencing services&nbsp;for scientists at CRI and Cambridge University.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times;">In my lab we sequence genomes, transcriptomes and many other 'omes&nbsp;from research groups trying to better understand Cancer and develop more effective treatments. Sequencing genomes isn&rsquo;t cheap but it&rsquo;s such a powerful technology. In the past couple of years we have seen costs fall to almost $1000 per genome. It is now possible to sequence the Normal and Tumour genomes of a Cancer patient and this is revealing new information about what causes cancer, who might get it and how we can better treat it.</span></p>