The Danish Dash

From 7-10 September 2026, a group of runners and their support team, all friends (Jeff, Lesley, Moira, Richard, Sharon, Emma and James), will run 40 miles (64 km) over 4 days along the Danish Riviera to raise funds for Leukaemia Care, supporting patients and families affected by blood cancers. It will be a tough but hugely meaningful and emotional challenge - and every donation will make a difference.

Tina’s Story

My wife Tina passed away from acute myeloid leukaemia in March 2026. Tina suffered from Crohn’s disease for many years and following a long hospital stay with what was assumed to be a serious Crohn's flare, she was told in June 2025 that her blood markers indicated the development of leukaemia and that chemotherapy would be started imminently. A few days before starting the treatment, she was told by her doctors that her blood markers had recovered, and the cancer had completely disappeared. Seemingly reprieved in an unprecedented turn of events which baffled her doctors, Tina embraced feeling well again and through the summer, enjoyed travelling and time spent with family and friends. However, shatteringly, the leukaemia returned suddenly and aggressively in December 2025 and because of the genetic changes and mutations which developed quickly she did not respond to her treatment in the way we all hoped and she passed away in hospital on 26th March 2026.

Everyone who was lucky enough to meet her will know Tina was a beautiful person in all interpretations of the word; the personification of goodness, fun, kindness and intelligence and she loved and was loved in equal measure by us all. We are devastated but know she wanted us to live our lives with integrity, courage, the best way possible – just as she did.

So…when Tina was in hospital, we had planned to do a multi-day run along the Zealand coast, the ‘Danish Riviera’ just north of Copenhagen, one of our favourite places, to raise money for Leukaemia Care. Not a runner, but in possession of other gifts such as fast driving, excellent cake and coffee consumption skills, and a healthy disregard for strenuous activity, Tina would reprise a previous role with Moira to ‘support’ the runners with transportation en-route and unwavering ‘encouragement’. Sadly, it was not to be. But the rest of the group are now determined to complete the event in Tina's honour; she would have been there cheering us on and we feel that now is the time to honour her and maximise our fundraising potential.

This charity have been remarkable throughout our journey – ongoing practical and emotional support for Tina in hospital at the worst of times, organising much needed counselling for me subsequently and just checking in with us way beyond any expectations. The care, hope, kindness and support they offer is so vital for blood cancer patients; we will not forget and we want it to be there for others who are on the same journey. We will post our training and run progress here regularly. Please give generously and thank you!

Jeff x

Please view the gallery of us on previous runs (and a bit of coffee and cake) and a few of Tina on the Danish Riviera on previous visits.