Just over 20 years ago my father Volker Bärwald (shown here with his father Heinz Bärwald) died after a short intense fight against a particularly aggressive form of brain cancer at the age of 52.

What left a profound impression on me was the speed at which the cancer progressed, not leaving any time to adapt or to properly say goodbye.

I am running for cancer research in order to keep his memory alive and to ensure that in the future people in a similar position have better chances and better therapies available.