Charity boss completes epic running challenge
Chief executive of Cure Leukaemia James McLaughlin successfully completed all 12 legs of 'Tour of the Tap ' running challenge.
The challenge saw him run 14km around each of the Trials Acceleration Programme Centres that are funded by Cure Leukaemia.
The feat has seen him running over 100 miles across a two-week period to raise important funds for the 12 UK blood cancer centres that are supported by the charity.
The event has raised over £50,000 from the past two years to fund the charities of TAP Network and James is now aiming to bring his combined fundraising total for the event to over £100,000.
The TAP Network that Cure Leukaemia provides funding to consists of a network of specialist CL research nurses based in 12 of the UK 's biggest cities and a facilitatory Hub at the Centre for Clinical Haematology (CCH) in Birmingham.
The CL Research Nurses across the UK and the co-ordinating Hub allow these trials to run, giving patients from a catchment area of over 20 million people access to potentially life saving treatments not currently available through standard care.
James (pictured) will now run in the London Marathon on Sunday 2nd October on behalf of the charity. He was also joined by additional runners over the course of the 14 days, including clinicians and research nurses from various TAP Centres.
The Tour 21's Allan Dickson guided James through Glasgow while London Marathon runner Matt Shilvock joined in for several stages.
James said: “Running into Southampton, you get quite emotional. It is a bit of a weird treadmill for the past 10 to12 days as it is back-to-back and pretty relentless. Coming into the final bit you are happy it is finished, but in a way, it is a strange feeling.
“To have such an amazing reaction from people to come down and welcome you is pretty humbling. The thing this trip always does for me is brings home the reality of how horrible this disease is, but also the fantastic positives that are happening due to the investments into the Trials Acceleration Programme. That's why we are urging people to help us get to that £25,000 mark."
The charity is also offering a chance to win a half-day off-road driving experience courtesy of headline sponsors, InchCapeUK.
Contestants are encouraged to guess how many steps James will complete by the end of the London marathon. So far, James has completed 211,617 steps.
To enter, donate £14 on The Tour of the TAP Just Giving page and enter your guess in the message box. The winner will be contacted on week commencing October 3, 2022.