Thousands hit road in Race For Life

ARTHUR'S Seat was ringed with pink as more than 7500 women hit the road for Cancer Research's Race For Life yesterday.

The run – now in its 13th year in Edinburgh – is non-competitive and open to women of all ages and abilities.

Schoolgirls ran alongside grandmothers, each with messages pinned to their backs remembering loved ones and offering support and inspiration for those running behind.

One schoolgirl, ten-year-old Parsons Green Primary School pupil Ninian Gibson, carried with her the simple words 'My Mummy' on her vest. She said: "I lost my mum when I was five years old. She died of brain cancer, and I'm going to be thinking about her on the way round the park."

Each runner's vest told of the tragedy of cancer and at the end of the race a memorial wall allowed runners to pin up their messages for others to read.

A team of slightly older girls from Leith were also walking the route for friends and loved ones, some with very personal experiences with cancer.

Marion Paul, 62, had a hysterectomy five years ago after cancer was found in her ovaries.

She said: "I couldn't take it in when they told me. I've had to attend the cancer unit these past five years but I've recently been given the all-clear."

Sister-in-Law Wilma Wilson, 69, also had to have chemotherapy and surgery for cancer of the kidney.

She said: "We held a fundraising tea party to raise money for Race for Life. There's a large group of us and we've raised over £2000."

To top up funds raised through sponsorship there was a Donation Station set up at the entrance to Holyrood Park where runners and their families could bring books, toys, clothes and mobile phones.

Elaine Robison, retail section relief manager for Cancer Research in Edinburgh, said: "We can get up to £8 for a mobile depending on its age.

"The bags we take in at the Donation Station are shared between our 16 shops throughout Lothian and Borders, and each bag is worth an average of £18 once the items have been sold, but it obviously varies depending on what's in there.

"The first year we put the donation station in we took in 150, last year it was over 200 and this year we've taken in over 300.

"We also took in cash donations and we had a woman in her eighties come down especially to give us cash even though she wasn't taking part."

The fundraising target for this year's event was £491,000 and most of the runners had raised sponsorship money well into the hundreds.

The 7500 women had to be released in several 'pulses' – with the faster runners at the front and walkers at the back – and before the last runners had left the starting gate the fast women were already streaming through finish line.

Although the event is non competitive, every race has to have a winner and this year it was 38-year-old Audrey Millar, a business support manager from Bruntsfield, who completed the 5k in 00:20:59.

She said: "I live near Holyrood Park so I know the course quite well. I've won a few 10k runs in the past, but this one is very important as we need to get to the bottom of the causes of cancer and start saving lives."

• www.raceforlife.org/scotland
• www.cancerresearch.org