|  |  |  | | | | 'Banana Army' to turn London yellow again | | | | |
| |
Release Date: 14 March 2007
There’s just over a month to go until the 2007 Flora London Marathon, and, as usual, there are scores of our ‘Banana Army’ runners preparing for their big day in the capital.
Every year, the team, led by former Olympic champion Liz McColgan, raise hundreds of thousands of pounds to commit to new cutting edge research. Many runners are inspired by being personally touched by experiences of blood cancers. Here are a few of the stories from this year’s athletes.
Russell Smith, 46, is running the 26.2-mile London race in memory of his wife Moira, who sadly died in July 2006 after a long fight against blood cancer acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).
Russell said: "Moira was an inspiration to us all during her illness, even writing a blog throughout treatment, which I am now in the process of publishing. All my efforts in the marathon are to raise even more money for a special Leukaemia Research ‘Forget Me Not Fund’ which we set up in her memory."
Police Inspector Ian Cooper, 48, is running his first ever race in London on 22 April 2007 to celebrate ten years since a bone marrow transplant helped him beat leukaemia.
Ian said: "In February 1997 I was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia, but thanks to a bone marrow transplant from my brother Gary at the Royal Liverpool Hospital I have had no signs of leukaemia since."
Carolyn Bennett, who took up running two years ago, is pounding London’s pavements in memory of her mother, Sue, who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in 1994. Sadly she died three years later.
This year also marks the 25th anniversary of our TVTimes and Asics sponsored celebrity running team. Since 1982, well-known faces from the world of TV and film have completed in triathlons and runs to raise thousands of pounds in support of Leukaemia Research’s vital work.
A number of the celebrity team turned out for our training day in March, including Tony Audenshaw and Chris Chittell from Emmerdale. Our runners were invited to hear from professional athletes, trainers and nutritionists to help them prepare for their big race. Particular thanks to Dairy Crest, who kindly donated the facilities free of charge for the day.
|
|
|
|
|
