University team tackles track marathon for cancer charity
15 Aug 2016
A group of University staff members – David Hughes, Rachel Kenyon, Victoria Turner, Andrew Walker and Helen Leah, plus Kate and Stuart Owen - have taken part in a charity marathon to raise money for a local cancer charity
The event took place on Saturday, 30 July at Cleavley Athletics Track in Eccles and is one in a series of various fundraisers and charity events organised by local charity ‘Chasing 43’, which supports more mainstream national cancer charities such as The Christie.
The charity was set up after Paul Coggins lost his wife and the mother of his two children to cancer. His aim with the charity is to "help people affected by cancer so they don’t have to suffer the same loss we did." The target amount for the organization is to raise £43,000 - £1000 for each year of his wife’s life before she lost her battle with cancer.
The University of Manchester team had to run the 42,195 metres of a marathon on a 400 metre track, which meant they had 106 laps to run between themselves. Despite being the smallest team in terms of runners, UoM came third overall (see the results). The day had a big turnout and there were also other activities for children, refreshments, raffles, cake stalls and much more.
The money that is donated and raised by the charity is then passed on to three larger cancer based charities, all of whom are helping cancer patients by using state of the art technology and trained nurses to talk to, as well as trying to find the overall cure. But they can only continue doing so with the help of donations.
So far, ‘Chasing 43’ has raised over £10,000 which is 25% of its target.
Want to support the team?
To sponsor the University team or simply donate to the charity, please visit: