Marathon runner clocks up 104 miles for charity
Howard Lake | 7 June 2006 | Newswire
A competitive nature has spurred Leyton resident Trevor East to run 104 miles, raising around £7,000 for Leukaemia CARE.
It all started with a dare back in 2001 after Trevor, then 26, had mentioned to a friend that he’d always fancied running the Flora London Marathon and was then goaded into taking part.
Trevor, who works at Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme, explained: My friends kept saying, ‘go on then, why don’t you?’, so I decided to go for it. Right from the start I wanted to run for a cancer related charity as I’d lost two of my grandparents to cancer and a neighbour to leukaemia. There are many cancer charities in the UK but, while many of them are research based and do a fantastic job trying to discover the causes of and potential treatments for the disease, it’s often easy to forget about those who already have cancer and related illnesses.
I was therefore drawn to Leukaemia CARE because of the invaluable help and support they give to the patients and their families when they need it most.â€
Having successfully completed the gruelling race in 2001, and not having contemplated entering again, Trevor went along in 2003 as a spectator to give his support to those taking part. He said: It’s a really moving experience being on the other side, watching the runners. Many of them are clearly struggling to keep going but desperate to finish the race and raise as much money as possible for their chosen charities and it’s incredibly motivating to hear the cheers from the spectators. It was then that I decided to enter again in 2004, and I set myself a challenge to try and beat my original finishing time.â€
Known to his friends as Tricky, Trevor took part again in 2005 and has just competed in this year’s race, which he ran in memory of an uncle who lost his battle with leukaemia last year. When asked why he keeps putting himself through the intense training regimes and the strain of the races themselves, his answer is clear. The pain I go through to complete the Marathons is nothing at all compared to what cancer patients go through every day, and if running 26 miles means I’m doing a little bit to help, then it’s worth it.â€
The money he’s raised will certainly have made a big difference to many people. Leukaemia CARE’s fundraising manager Louise Carlin commented: Trevor’s been fantastic over the years, we are all really grateful for his ongoing efforts to keep raising money for us and looking forward so seeing him again next year. As a charity, we rely on donations, fundraising events and of course our team of volunteers, to enable us to continue our vital work offering support to patients, particularly through our dedicated 24-hour freephone telephone service. We’re the only cancer charity to offer this type of service offering round the clock support when patients are feeling lonely or anxious and just want a friendly, comforting voice to give them advice or just a bit of encouragement.â€
Despite a three-month trip that will take him to South America, Australia and New Zealand early next year and which will prevent him from training for and running in the Flora London Marathon, Trevor will still be present at the 2007 event. I’ll be working as a volunteer on behalf of Leukaemia CARE and giving out plenty of moral support and you never, know, 2008 may see me running it again. It depends whether anyone dares me to enter!â€
For further information, please contact:
Louise Carlin, Leukaemia CARE – 01905 755 977
or
Steve Paddock/Michele Turner, Market Link PR – 01905 726 575
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.