Women put best feet forward for charity
Published: June 4, 2005
Thousands of women whose lives have been affected by cancer will run this weekend to raise money for research into the disease.
The Race for Life is set to take place in Holyrood Park on Sunday, with 7193 participants registered to take part in the five-kilometre run.
The park will be closed to traffic from 8am in the morning, with the exception of the road between Holyrood Gait and Horse Wynd.
Now in its tenth year, the event raised more than £235,000 for Cancer Research UK last year and organisers are hoping to beat that figure with several thousand more runners taking part this year.
A Race for Life spokeswoman said that places for the event had filled up quicker this year than ever before.
She said: “The reaction this year from women has been astounding. We had backing from Carol Smillie doing the radio adverts and the race has really gained momentum. We hope to raise £23 million UK-wide.”
The race is the UK’s biggest women-only fundraising event and will be a team effort for many women.
Kaimes School, which caters for children with autism, has 19 staff members participating in the event, many of whom are first-time runners.
The staff at the school were motivated by learning assistant Vicky Gilmore, who lost her sister to cancer.
Ms Gilmore, 42, from Buckstone, was adopted as a baby, but tracked down her natural mother and siblings in June 2003.
Her sister Liz died of breast cancer just two months later at the age of 39.
Ms Gilmore said: “I’ve done the run for the last four years, even before I met Liz, but her death has given me an extra reason to run.”
She added, “It’s really good that we are raising sponsorship. Even the men are helping with fundraising, though they can’t take part.”
Acting headteacher Krystin Clyne said that the staff were keen to do something for charity because the school itself had just benefited from a £5000 win in the Evening News cash for schools competition.
Kaimes School, which has a total of 80 autistic pupils ranging in age from five to 18, used the money to fund a multi-sensory room to provide stimulus for the students.
The Race for Life is open to all ages and one of the youngest participants is four-year-old Shannon Sabiston from Sighthill, whose great-grandmother died of cancer.
The youngster, who has raised more than £100 by herself, will accompany mum Diane Campbell on Sunday’s run.
Cancer Research’s UK Race for Life was launched by marathon world record-holder Paula Radcliffe on May 4.
Races will take place at 162 venues across the UK until July 31. The Capital race is expected to finish no later than 1pm.
The facts
LAST year’s Race for Life attracted 4800 women and raised more than £235,000 for Cancer Research UK.
The one-lap route climbs gradually to the half-way point, after which there is a steep descent.
The youngest participant at the Holyrood Park event will be two months old - and in a pushchair - while the oldest registered participant is 80.
The organisers hope to raise £275,000 at the race. There will be another Race for Life at Hopetoun House in South Queensferry on June 26.
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