St Neots man Iain Holiday has completed two of the four marathons he will run in the next four weeks to raise money for a cancer charity.
Iain, aged 26, from Howitts Gardens, in Eynesbury, hopes to raise a minimum of £4,000 for Cancer Research UK. His first run was in Manchester on April 8 and he completed the event in 3hrs 23mins 13secs.
“Manchester went well, but not as planned. I was aiming for a time of 3hrs 20mins but only managed 3:23:13.”
On April 15, Iain took part in his second marathon, in Brighton, which he says went well.
He said: “I was on a little bit of injury prevention from going fast at Manchester the week before, but still managed a 3:32 at Brighton. It is a very busy marathon which was nice but a little unexpected, the second biggest in the UK.
“I am just looking forward to London now as I have no pressure to get a time due to how busy it is. I reckon I will be around the same time, but I am just saving myself for Hamburg for another attempt at a personal best.”
Iain will run in London on April 22 and Hamburg on April 29.
Iain, a project manager, decided to raise money and awareness for the charity after his partner, Helen West, was diagnosed with breast cancer in February last year at the age of 25. Helen was treated with chemotherapy and has been part of a cancer treatment trial at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, in Cambridge. She also underwent a double mastectomy after tests showed she was a carrier for the BRCa gene. The BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes greatly increase a woman’s chance of developing breast and ovarian cancer. Researchers have recently identified more than 100 new gene variants associated with an increased risk of breast, prostate and ovarian cancer.
“Worryingly, while breast cancer is common, undergoing cancer treatment at this age has a knock-on affect with the ability to have children as well as other side effects,” said Iain.
“This means if she is able to have children there is a high risk of passing this gene on and the child developing cancer at some point in their life.”
INFO: If you would like to support Iain’s fundraising effort, go to: www.virginmoneygiving.com/iainholiday.
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