Two keen runners have raised more than £1,500 for Leukaemia & Myeloma Research UK (LMRUK).
Francis Lea, 25 and Chris Cattrall, 44, took part in events at Dorney Lakes, near Windsor on Sunday (March 10) and raised the money through sponsorship from friends, family and colleagues at work.
Francis, from Crawley, was running in memory of his father, Colin Lea, who died aged 63, just five days after his diagnosis with Leukaemia in August 2022.
Colin was a long-serving Crawley postman and leaves a widow, Lisa, 47, daughters Tarnya, 27 and Sianah, 23, and grandchildren Alfie, 8, Ameilia, 7 and Nova, 2. Since Colin died, his daughters have given birth. Tarnya and partner Alex have an 11-month-old, daughter, Lilah and Sianah and partner Zsolt also have a daughter Cinzia, who is 11 months.
Francis, who took up running after his father’s death, raised almost £400 for our charity by taking part in the 10k event. He recorded a time of 41 minutes – ten minutes faster than his target time – after less than six weeks training.
He said: “What an emotional day! Tears streamed down my face as I passed over the finish line. I’m feeling very proud, and I think I’ll be doing the exact same thing next March – maybe the half marathon.”
Chris, from East London, ran the 5k race and came in second among around 200 competitors in a time of 17 minutes and 59 seconds. He had already collected £1,010 from sponsors by Monday (March 11) and was expecting more money to come in. Chris was running in support of his mother, who is fighting Myeloma.
He said: “I was very happy with the time – and with the money raised. My mum was very pleased too, especially on Mother’s Day.”
Both Francis and Chris said they are keen to see more research into blood cancers.
Dr Joanna Tilley, Operations Director at LMRUK, said the charity was extremely grateful to both runners – and all the other fundraisers who support our vital work.
She said with more than 100 different types of blood cancer – many of which are extremely rare – research is essential to give hope to people affected by blood cancer and to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms to look out for.
“The money raised by these two men, both of whom have been touched by the impact of blood cancer on a close relative, will make a difference to our work and we are extremely grateful to them and all our fundraisers for the support they give to LMRUK,” she said.
To find out more about how to fundraise for our charity, click here: https://lmruk.org/fundraising/.
