Race For Life: 30 Years.

2023 marks the 30th year of Race for Life, organised by Cancer Research UK, a series of events which take place across the country raising money for research into all 200 types of cancer. Race for Life is a very inclusive event, open to everyone and any age.

I was one of around 650 participants that took part in Shrewsbury’s event, at The Quarry, on Sunday 18 June. The ‘race’ started at 11am, with the recommendation of arriving at least 30 minutes before to soak up the atmosphere and join in the fun warm up session. Prior to the run we were informed the money raised from the Shrewsbury event alone was an incredible £34,000 with more money expected after the event, which would increase the total further.

After an aerobic warm up to an uplifting tune we were guided to line up in groups - runners at the front, joggers next, then walk/joggers at the back. There is no timescale required to finish, it is definitely a ‘finish line not finish time’ event.

With an emotional song playing as we counted down from 10 to one, we were off. A sea of pink snaking its way through the 5k marked route, with some in fancy dress - there was a running banana and a family of flamingos, a very well done to them for wearing a costume on such a hot day!

Members of the public, family and friends lined the route to cheer us on and give encouragement, which was fabulous. Volunteers gave their time to marshal the course, and hand out medals at the end, along with snacks and lots of water!

Whether people are living with cancer, taking park in honour of or in memory of a loved one with cancer or signing up to protect their own children’s future, everyone has a reason to Race for Life, as support through events like this funds ground-breaking work.

It was pleasing to read in the Shropshire Star recently about a welcome rise in cancer survival rates in Shropshire: ‘The rate of survival for cancer patients in the county one year on from their diagnosis is still rising’. This is positive news, however, there are still lots of worrying statistics on missed and delayed diagnosis. If you have been affected by this you can contact our award winning Clinical Negligence team for guidance and to see if we are able to assist.