Lynn Frieda completes her marathon hat-trick for the ICR
A team of runners is on target to raise more than £55,000 for The Institute of Cancer Research, London, at this year’s London Marathon on the 35th anniversary of the world-famous race.
Seventeen keen volunteers were taking part in the 26-mile London race for the ICR, including our own Director of Research Operations, Dr Fiona Hemsley.
ICR’s David Longley was the first of the ICR’s runners to make it over the finish line in an amazing time of 2 hours and 46 minutes.
David said: “I had a fantastic day running the marathon for the ICR. I was a little surprised at my time as I expected to slow down the whole way around, but I managed to maintain my pace. Thanks so much for all the support.”
The total money raised by the runners will continue to rise over the coming days, and all the money will help to fund the important research into cancer being carried out by scientists at the ICR.
The London Marathon is one of the largest annual sporting events in the UK with more than 36,000 charity fun runners taking part, raising millions of pounds for good causes.
On an overcast and showery day – perfect conditions for the runners if not the spectators – the dedicated team of 17 set off to complete the 26-mile course, in the culmination of months of training and hard work.
The group was made up of a mix of first timers and seasoned competitors, including third-time ICR veteran Lynn Frieda who has raised more than £14,000 this year for the ICR.
Rebecca Fabrizi travelled all the way from Australia to take part in her first marathon and finished the course in 4 hours and 16 minutes, raising £7,000 in the process. Her mum who has pancreatic cancer is being treated at The Royal Marsden hospital.
Runners either had their own ballot place and chose to support us, or successfully applied for one of the ICR’s guaranteed places in the event.
They were cheered on at mile 12 by a team of energetic volunteers made up of friends, family and ICR staff, to give them encouragement and a much-needed boost as the runners neared the half-way mark.
The runners were greeted at the post-race reception held at the Farmers’ Club in Whitehall, where they could recuperate and have a well-deserved rest. They also received a goody bag and plenty of refreshments donated by local companies.
Lara Jukes, Director of Development, said: “The London marathon is just such a special day and every year our runners raise an amazing amount of money for the ICR. Many of our runners have lost loved ones to cancer and their dedication to helping fund the ICR’s vital research is just so humbling. We are incredibly grateful for their fantastic support, and thank you too to all our volunteers who cheered them on every step of the way.”
If you are inspired by this year’s runners and wish to take part, email [email protected] to join our running team, or see our Sports and challenges page for event listings throughout 2015 and 2016.