2,500 runners took to the streets of the capital on Sunday 26 April to run the Virgin Money London Marathon for Cancer Research UK. As this year's official Marathon charity, Cancer Research UK is hoping to raise a record-breaking £2.5 million, all of which will go towards the construction of the Francis Crick Institute. The largest amount that has previously been raised by any charity through the marathon is £2.1 million.
Between them, Cancer Research UK's biggest ever team ran a total of 65,500 miles, the equivalent to two and half times around the world. The team included eleven directors from across the charity, Dr Harpal Kumar, the CEO of Cancer Research UK, and a great number of high-profile individuals including Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, and Jayne-Anne Gadhia, CEO of Virgin Money. Mark Carney has to date has raised £84,000 alone! Teams from Google, Goldman Sachs and 21st Century Fox also raced against one-another in the 'Corporate Challenge'.
Then there were the huge number of runners who got their own ballot place in the marathon and chose to support Cancer Research UK, including Crick staff members Jim Smith, Ruth Attenborough, Alan Ling, Martin Jones and David Bacon. Their extremely admirable hard work and effort has gone a long way to ensure Cancer Research UK is on track to raise the full £2.5 million.
By Monday morning, Cancer Research UK had raised £2.4 million with further donations still coming in. If you haven't yet sponsored a friend or colleague, please do it now and help them reach the £2.5 million target!
