Charity of the Week

Pretty Muddy competitors

Cancer plays dirty but so do we

Poignant month of events following the death of 'Bowelbabe' Deborah James

There is an extra poignancy about this month's Race for Life and Pretty Muddy series of events following the sad passing of previous regular participant and Cancer Research UK ambassador Dame Deborah James, aka Bowelbabe, who died on Tuesday (28 June 2022) aged 40 years.

Dame Deborah, a mum of two, was diagnosed with incurable bowel cancer in 2016 and she became the host of the You, Me and the Big C podcast on BBC Radio 5 about her struggles and successes as she battled the disease. She recently set up the Bowelbabe Fund for Cancer Research UK with a target of £250,000 – and has raised more than £7million and counting...!

Cancer Research UK published this statement on Facebook: "We were deeply saddened to hear that Dame Deborah James died yesterday (28 June), and our thoughts remain with her loved ones. We’ve loved every minute of working with Deborah over the years. She’s encouraged so many people to sign up to their local Race for Life and been an inspiration by training for and taking part in our events, all while going through her own cancer treatment. Here’s to you, Deborah."  

This month there are 3K, 5K and 10K Race for Life events at venues across the north of England and the exciting Pretty Muddy runs will be held for kids and adults in many areas. Check out your local event on runABC North's monthy listing for July.

The whole point of the Pretty Muddy run is to get ... pretty muddy! Children who are at least 1.2m tall can take part in their own muddy obstacle course, have fun with friends and raise vital funds for life-saving research.

Meanwhile, adults will have a challenging 5K course with up to a dozen inflatable and other obstacles, and plenty of glutinous mud. Obstacles generally include the A Frame; Cargo Nets; Spider's Web; Mud Pit; Tunnels; Durdles; Mission Inflatable; Wall of Fame; Wrecking Balls; Body Bounce (on space hoppers) and the thrilling grand finale, the Mud Slide.

You will get messy but as the Race for Life website says: "Cancer plays dirty but so do we".

To donate to the Justgiving Bowelbabe Fund for Cancer Research UK click here

To find all Race for Life or Pretty Muddy events visit the Cancer Research UK events website  

Image courtesy Race for Life on Facebook

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