The bright tied of life
On Sunday 7 July, 30 colleagues from depots in Brecon, Llandrindod Wells and the surrounding areas will be joining the Cancer Research Wales team in the Wales Marathon in an attempt to break a Guinness World Record – ‘the most runners to complete a marathon while linked together’.
The idea stemmed from Cancer Research Wales supporter and Brecon delivery office manager, Neal Gardner - who previously broke the same world record in 2009 at the London Marathon, when he and 29 other runners were tied together.
Neal now aims to re-break the record while raising £100,000 for Cancer Research Wales in support of Llandrinodod Wells delivery office manager, Phillip ‘Pip’ Morgan, who was recently diagnosed with throat cancer. Play the video above to find out more.
Following Pip’s diagnosis, his colleagues were left so devastated that they decided to take on the highly unique challenge to beat the current record, which was set in 2017 by a 112-strong Canadian team.
‘We all love Pip and we’ll be doing our best to support him as he’s such a lovely man,’ said Neal. ‘Pip can’t really believe that so many of his friends and colleagues are taking on such a big challenge to show how much they think of him. But everyone in the team has been affected by, or had loved ones affected by cancer in some way, so this is a really personal cause which is close to many of us.
‘Our record attempt has already captured the imagination of so many people, some of whom had never completed a 10k until very recently, with runners from across the UK getting in touch to join the team and taking advantage of this unique opportunity to get their name in the history books.
‘Cancer is something that, unfortunately, is likely to affect all of us in some way shape or form at some point in our lives, whether that’s a battle with the disease ourselves or perhaps a loved one, friend or colleague receiving the news that they have cancer. By organising this Guinness World Record attempt, we want to make a real difference to those living with cancer in Wales, as well as help aid ground-breaking research in the fight against the disease.
‘The training is going really well at present and most of us are up to 10 miles and upping it weekly. The response has been incredible. Every runner that joins us makes us stronger and increases our chances of reaching our target of raising £100,000 for this fantastic charity.’
The Wales Marathon takes place on Sunday 7 July at the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.
If you would like to take part, please email neal.gardner@royalmail.com or call 07841 787 682. For further details visit www.cancerresearchwales.co.uk/crw_events/walesmarathon/.
