Thank you for taking the time to visit my Just Giving page. Having benefitted from life saving medical research, I am delighted to be able to raise some money for CRUK.

I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in 1993 and successfully treated with six month's chemotherapy and one month's radiotherapy. I was warned that the chemo might reduce my chances of having children and I was fortunate enough to have three boys  - James (19), Andrew (16) and Oliver (13).  Unfortunately, the radiotherapy has since been shown to increase your chance of getting breast and thyroid cancer. In 2005, I had surgery for breast cancer and excellent support from Breast Cancer Care. Earlier in that year my dad had passed away and we had received superb support from Marie Curie Cancer Care. I began to take more of an interest in charity fund raising. In September 2007, I became the teacher in charge of charity fundraising at Bedford School.

 In 2009, a colleague completed the Great North Run for Whizz-kidz; she had seen how much support her god-son had received from Whizz-Kidz. I was browsing their website when I noticed that they still had places for the 2010 London Marathon. I had always wanted to do this race so I applied, started training in February and completed it in 7h 18m 12s.

I watched the 2011 race from the comfort of my arm chair and decided that I would enter the 2012 race, train more and improve my time. I completed it in 7h 13m 12s. My running in the summer got worse and worse and I began to feel that something was wrong. I went to my GP and he referred me for tests. On the first day of the Autumn Term, I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and treated with six months chemotherapy and mab-thera. I am convinced that I coped well with the chemotherapy regime because I had been exercising regularly.

The chemo finished in April 2013 and I joined the Harriers Beginners Group again on 22 April. The first run was ‘Walk 2 mins, run 1min, walk 2mins x 5; rest and recover then repeat. Approx. 1 mile’. All went well until a PET CT showed a persistent increased area of activity in my right thyroid gland and I was referred to ENT for advice in July. The only way to be certain that a thyroid is benign throughout is to remove it so mine was removed in October. I signed up to the 2014 London Marathon the day before the operation. The operation went well and I did not have thyroid cancer. It takes six months to fully recover from a thyroidectomy and what better way to celebrate than running a marathon! I completed the course in 6 hours 54 minutes.

I had to postpone my 2015 London Marathon place due to a recurrence of the breast cancer. It has spread to my bones, lungs and liver and I have ongoing treatment. Fortunately, I am under the care of Professor Robert Thomas. He is one of the best oncologist's in the country and this enables me to have a positive attitude and keep going.

I enjoy training with Bedford Harriers on Monday and Wednesday evenings. I enjoy the social side of the group training sessions and the coaches are very encouraging and patient. I recently completed Bedford Park Run in under forty minutes. Running is very good for my health and it really does not matter how slowly I go. My goals for the race are to enjoy the experience, raise £100 per mile for CRUK and finish. 

Donating through Just Giving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with Just Giving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity.  I would really appreciate any donation that you can make. Thank you in advance for your support. Caroline xx