Earlier this year my sister-in-law, Sarah, lost her beloved sister, Rachel, to secondary breast cancer. Rachel was only 56 years old. It was a heart breaking loss for Sarah, for Rachel's husband Mark and for all those who knew and loved her.

I am running on behalf of Make 2nds Count who are the charity that provided invaluable support to Rachel who would go on to become an ambassador for them.

Make 2nds Count provide support, and hope, to men and women living with secondary (metastatic) breast cancer.

Secondary breast cancer is a cancer that has spread beyond the breast to other parts of the body. An estimated 61,000 men and women in the UK are living with this incurable disease, and symptoms can vary from person to person. It has a devastating impact on people affected and their families, yet many people have never heard of it. It is one of the biggest killers of women under 50 in the UK.

Secondary breast cancer can be treated but it cannot be cured.

I had the daft idea earlier this year to try and run 2,000km in 2026 (an average of about 5.5km a day). It quickly became apparent that to do that I'd need to actually leave the house and exercise. Not an attractive prospect in January. So instead I decided to enter as many local 10k runs as I could find in one night, along with my usual dabble into gut wrenching, cross-country mud baths.

When I learned of Sarah and Mark's loss it seemed like an apt opportunity to put my efforts to some good and see if I could earn a few quid for a charity that would get the most benefit from it. Now that all of the runs have been entered (and paid for by yours truly) 100% of the monies raised will go to Make 2nds Count. Coming in at 10 deep we have;

Newcastle / Gateshead 10km 3/5/26

Sunderland 10km 17/5/26

The Blaydon Race 9km 9/6/26

Total Warrior 12km 27/6/26

Great North 10km 5/7/26

Tough Mudder Yorkshire 15km 25/7/26

Darlington 10km 2/8/26

Great North Run Half Marathon 13/9/26

Tough Mudder Manchester 10/10/26

Darlington Half Marathon 6/12/26

So that's 133km all told, plus the training. Yay me! Seriously though, if you have got this far I would be deeply grateful if you could spend a little of your time having a read about the charity and the work that they do. Beyond that I'd be even more grateful if you could take the opportunity to donate something towards my efforts and for the charity. It goes without saying that 100% of all donations goes straight to the charity, no fees are taken by the website and nothing goes towards any event fee.

UK individual taxpayers can also nominate 'Gift Aid' which provides an extra top-up to the charity.

Any kind hearted corporate donations can be used as allowable charitable deductions against their Corporation Tax bill (forever the taxman!)

I've targeted £1,000 as my goal for this which feels like a mile away at the moment but with your help and support I'd love to get there and more. So get reading, get donating and get sharing this with anyone and everyone you meet.....

And don't forget the social media #RunReayRun handle for all of those exciting phots of me across the year in various states close to cardiac arrest as I 'enjoy' the experience of running further than my body was designed for.

Please give generously!

Cheers,

Alan