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.

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’ll wish me luck and maybe turn up on race day to support everyone taking part.

Why CRUK: 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.

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.

My target of £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 james.hadfield@cancer.org.uk.

Me and my lab: I manage the genomics core facility at CRI. My lab offers broad spectrum genomic and Illumina next-gen sequencing services for scientists at CRI and Cambridge University.

In my lab we sequence genomes, transcriptomes and many other 'omes from research groups trying to better understand Cancer and develop more effective treatments. Sequencing genomes isn’t cheap but it’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.