Find out why our supporter Jennifer is running the London marathon for #teamICR

 

Why did you choose to run for the ICR?

Until just a couple of weeks ago I worked at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, in our Enterprise Unit, which is responsible for all of our agreements and partnerships with industry. It’s a busy team and my job entailed running around, but not as much running as I’m about to do!

I’ve always thought about doing the London Marathon but never quite had the courage to go for it. Working at the ICR I got to see first-hand the excellent research that takes place every day. I also lost my father to cancer when I was 23, so the cause is something that is very close to my heart. 

What is your training routine like?

The London Marathon is going to be a huge challenge for me as I’ve never run further than a 5k before starting training – so for the ultimate challenge I thought why not jump straight in at the deep end. I’m certainly not the most natural of runners, so it’s not going to be easy. However, I’m focusing on the finishing line and the real sense of achievement I’ll feel when I reach it!

I’m using a guide for beginners from the book, Runner’s World Big Book of Marathon and Half-Marathon Training. Things are going well with the guide and I’m at the 12-mile point, which I’m very pleased about – only another 14 and a bit to go!

 

Video: On #GivingTuesday in November 2016, ICR employee Jack Walker lent his help to fundraise for colleague Jennifer Herbert.

How is your fundraising going?

So far I’ve managed to fundraise around £650 from family and friends. My brave colleague Jack also shaved his hair completely off on Giving Tuesday and raised £200 for me. I have a couple of events planned to help me reach my target of £2,000, which recently included a bake sale at work and a car boot sale on 9 April. I'm also hoping to do some bag packing and collections at a local supermarket.

If you’d like to help me smash my target fundraising goal, you can make a donation on my JustGiving page. So far so good and the journey up to race day continues.

Join #teamICR

If you’d like to join #teamICR to run, cycle or trek to support our cancer research, call Heather on 0207 153 5375. She can let you know what events the ICR has lined up this year, and what it’s like to take on a challenge as part of #teamICR.

Support Jennifer and give her a boost by donating to her Marathon effort.

And if you’ve always wanted to run a race, but weren’t sure which to go for, why not challenge yourself to the Birmingham 10k? We have just seven spaces left, and one of them could be yours!