7000 women on their marks for cancer cash

THOUSANDS of runners are set to descend on Edinburgh for the second consecutive weekend, with the aim of raising £500,000 for charity.

A week on from the Edinburgh Marathon, more than 7000 women will take part in the annual Race for Life through Holyrood Park.

The five kilometre run, which raises cash for Cancer Research, has been staged in the city for the past 13 years after growing out of a concept that began in London.

Overall, 750,000 women a year take part in events across the whole of the UK.

Olivia McLean, area events manager for Race for Life Edinburgh said: "Edinburgh is regarded as one of our big weekends in national fundraising terms.

"It also rates very highly in the UK standings for the number of runners taking part, and that's a real achievement for Scotland's capital city."

Roads will be closed from Horse Wynd to Holyrood Gait between 8am and 1pm, while the park will be closed off to all traffic as usual tomorrow.

The day will start at around 9.30am with speeches from volunteers on the importance of Race for Life and Cancer Research, as well as motivational speeches to get the runners into a positive frame of mind.

An hour later, the 7000 women will simultaneously gear up in a group warm-up event, followed by a minute's silence to remember those who have been affected by cancer.

The run itself will start at 11am. Race for Life organisers hope to raise £491,000 from this weekend's event towards a total Scottish fundraising target of £3 million for Cancer Research UK. There will be a donation station set up on site for unwanted clothes, books, CDs, DVDs and cash donations, which organisers say could easily add an extra £30 per person to whatever sponsorship money is raised. Ms McLean stressed that the event was open to everyone, whatever their age "The run is totally non competitive and is open to women of all ages and abilities," she said.

"I've seen three-year-old children make their way round the park with their families, and women in the 80s take part in the past. Some women will be out to beat their personal bests, while for others it will just be the challenge of walking the three miles or so that spurs them on.

"Around half the women are running round the course, and they will set off first, while the walkers will follow on afterwards."

A Cancer Research spokeswoman said the funds raised during Race for Life Edinburgh would go toward helping a number of projects in the city, and would be invaluable to the thousands of women affected by cancer each year.

She added: The charity spends £6m a year in Edinburgh alone, with around two-thirds of that money going to the Cancer Centre at the Western General Hospital.

"The money also funds the Childhood Cancer Clinical Trials programme at the Sick Kids, as well as funding scientific research at Edinburgh University."

• www.raceforlife.org/scotland
• www.cancerresearchuk.org