Pat, my American cousin, Tony, my Canadian husband, and John, my brother-in-law, all died of cancer within the last 12 months. My fundraising is in memory of them, and in honour of them and all they meant to me. In addition, it is for all of us who may, in future, benefit from the gains of cancer research.

A bit of history for those not aware of the Terry Fox story. Terry Fox, a 22-year-old Canadian athlete who lost his leg to osteogenic sarcoma, a rare bone cancer, made headlines in 1980 when he ran 3,339 miles over 143 days across Canada to raise awareness and money for cancer research.

Known as the 'Marathon of Hope', Terry had planned to run across the country, but he had to stop sooner than anticipated on September 1, 1980 as sadly cancer had spread to his lungs. During the Marathon of Hope, he averaged a marathon a day every day having a unique running style as he used a prosthetic leg. He died less than a year later on June 28, 1981, a month shy of his 23rd birthday.

Since his death, thousands of Terry Fox runs have been held each September in Canada and throughout the world in his name which have raised more than £500 million for cancer research. Terry started the global phenomenon of charity runs in grand style in 1980.