It’s happened again. It’s the same old story. It’s time to take action.

So, now it’s James, Luke and Ben’s turn to help and and organize the troops to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

James is running for his godfather, Hugh.
Luke is running for his girlfriend’s mum, Mary.
Ben is running for his Grandad and his Nan.

The 11th January was when the challenge began, timed to coincide with James’s godfather’s first initial consultation and Mary’s ongoing chemotherapy treatment.

Mary's Story by Luke

Mary was diagnosed last year with Mesothelioma. It is a cancer of the lining of the lung and is caused by asbestos exposure. It was a complete shock for her and frustratingly not something that you could have a hope of protecting yourself against. She is halfway through a course of chemo and whilst it’s taking its toll on her health, so far, the scans are showing positive results in shrinking back the cancer.

Hugh's Story 

"I've been very fortunate, fit & well for half a century, but the big C has crept up sneakily & got a firm grip without my noticing. But I'm in good hands & soon a pair of them will be at the controls of a robot that will probe my inners, remove the infected organ & do some replumbing. I've had support from Macmillan who provide really useful information & it's immensely reassuring to know that they will be there afterwards with advice & help when needed. Great initiative from James & friends that I am happy to endorse."


Sadly since Hugh wrote this, the operation was cancelled as the cancer has spread and he’s undergoing palliative treatment in Leeds. So he needs Macmillan’s support now more than ever.

Doreen & Frank's Story by Ben

I am running for my Grandparents, Doreen and Frank Ahern, who have been my role models, my rocks and helped make me the man I am today.

My Nan survived the WW2 Plymouth Blitz and it taught her to make every moment count, show her love and also to have incredible resilience. Her resilience to then battle breast cancer sadly wasn’t a war she was able to win. It impacted every part of our family but we were fortunate to have amazing support from experts to help her. It also allowed us to grow and realise that every moment counts.

No one felt the pain more acutely after 75 years of marriage than my Grandad Frank. Now close to 106 years young. The longest current Plymouth Argyle supporter, he is used to some highs and lows! Our low has been his recent diagnosis of advanced lung cancer.  We are fortunate again to have a great support network, I know many don’t have that.

Grandad still sang to me on my birthday last week, and I know he is very proud we as a team are doing our bit with this run to support this great cause. I know if he could – he would be shouting support from the side lines, especially for all the other people and families that we can hopefully help.

Celeste Godber's Story
James happened across one of the Mums from Braughing Cricket Club out on a run in the village. 

Celeste stopped when she saw the Macmillan vest and told me her story. 

Celeste was diagnosed with Myeloma in October 2021 and began chemotherapy in March 2022 at a Macmillan Cancer Center.

Our group are now proud to also be running for Celeste and hope in some way it helps her and her family.

We want to take this journey with them as much as humanly possible and so have decided to challenge ourselves to run 5k every day for the next six months until 5th July, by which time we aim to have collectively run 10,000kms. We also want to cap off this challenge with a final big event where we will push ourselves one last time.

We are surrounded by an amazing bunch of friends and family who have agreed to take up this challenge with us and will run, cycle and swim in order to support and contribute to the final overall target of 10,000km. We also hope to have other friends and family join us along the way for the odd run here and there to keep us company during the months ahead – every metre counts!

James will also push round a wheelbarrow on some of the runs to carry on that great Braughing tradition and hopefully increase local support and interest.

We are recording our progress on fitness trackers as proof of our daily efforts and will also have a Sheets Document to track our progress.

Thank you for reading and for your support.

Let us know if you fancy a run!

Best wishes,

James, Luke, Ben and the troops.