Tackling cancer across the Atlantic

Christopher JAMES is raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support
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BMW Berlin Marathon 2014 · 28 September 2014 ·

The number of people diagnosed with cancer is growing, we're doing whatever it takes to help more people with cancer get the best care the UK has to offer, whoever and wherever they are. To donate, volunteer, raise money or campaign with us, call 0300 1000 200 or visit macmillan.org.uk

Story

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Back in 2014, I embarked on a mission to raise both awareness and much-needed funds for MacMillan Cancer Support ahead of running the Berlin marathon. My involvement with them since has only strengthened the resolve I have to assist them in any way I can. And that is why I am honoured to reopen my fundraising page to prepare to tackle the Boston & London marathons in April 2016, 6 days apart. It's a big challenge that I'm looking forward to but pales into insignificance in comparison to the challenges of those who fight this fight every day.

MacMillan cancer research estimates that 1 in 3 people will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime. While many may choose to ignore statistics such as this one, to push it to the back of their minds, unfortunately for my family and I, it's one we've had to face directly. My parents are 2 for 2 for being diagnosed with breast cancer and leukemia respectively. But because of services like MacMillan and the work they do, supported by countless numbers of medical professionals, hospital staff, volunteers and, of course, those who donate, they are also 2 for 2 for besting cancer. Now, that fight is currently being fought by the bravest and most courageous girl I've ever had the privilege to know, supported by a strength I didn't know was possible to exist that resides within her parents and twin brother.  This family, like so many others, will lean on the invaluable work of MacMillan and others to make it 3 for 3.

Having encountered this disease from such a personal viewpoint, I can vouch for the sentiment that when faced with an uncertain future, whether you're the patient, doctor, family or a friend - access to quality, researched information can be your only source of comfort in the most trying of circumstances. 

Donating to Macmillan cancer support is not a donation to a man in a white lab coat - it's a donation to someone you walked past in the street today, someone you work with, someone you're sitting next to - to provide a source of comfort that, ironically, money can't buy. 

Thanks for your support.

Where it all began

In late 2012, over some few beers and a sunset, a silly idea was hatched (as is possible in such settings). A bunch of lads, none of whom had ever run more than a half marathon and who's idea of carbo-loading was of the liquid malt variety, threw around the phrase, 'ultra marathon'. Fast forward to March 2013 and 2 marathons and 1 Ultra marathon in Cape Town later, an addiction had emerged. The next hit for me? Berlin, September 28, 2014. 

Fortunately I was able to complete an incredibly memorable day in a time of 2h56mins, which gained me qualification into the Boston & London marathons, and the start of the next stage of this long journey.

Thank you for your support.

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£1,928.90
+ £367.83 Gift Aid
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£1,928.90
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