Marathon Heroes 2018 - Sharon Irving

Sharon's Marathon Story

This is the final post in our Marathon Heroes series for 2018 - putting the spotlight on some of the many, many people out there training for a marathon for great causes.

Sharon Irving will be running the London Marathon to raise money for a charity close to her heart - Cancer Research UK. Here's Sharon's story,,,

"I am running for Cancer Research UK.  I have been running and fundraising for Cancer Research UK since 2010.  My main motivator is my dad, Hamish Moffat. I lost my dad to stomach cancer when he was only 34 years old and I was 9 years old and over the years, I have lost my uncles Bing (pancreatic Cancer) & George (Bowel Cancer), my Granny Moffat (She died when I was a toddler so not 100% sure which type of cancer she had), my neighbour Linda Nawrocki (Survived Cervial Cancer but it travelled to her Liver) and in 2016 my friends lost their 5 year old son, Super Sam Dorrance to a Brain Tumour.   

I am extremely passionate about my running and fundraising for Cancer Research UK and this is my way of keeping memories alive and trying to make something positive out of a tragedy.  Treatments and preventative measures have come on leaps and bounds over the years and this is due to the continued research done by charities such as Cancer Research UK.  Cancer Research UK are the only UK Charity dedicated to beating all types of cancer so this is why it is important for me to keep running and raising awareness and raising vital funds. In 2010 I decided to run my first 5K Race for Life to raise money for Cancer Research UK (5K just about killed me off) and since then I have been hooked. I ran my first Great North Run in 2011 and I ran my first London Marathon in 2015.  

I have raised around £14K to date for Cancer Research UK.   My fundraising goal for this years marathon is £3.5K and I held a Charity Cocktail Night on 17th February 2018 raising £2,847 which takes this years total to £4,133 so I am really chuffed that I have done so well.  I have held movie nights, bonus ball draws, raffles, etc in the past and my local community always get behind my fundraising.   I ran the Royal Parks Half Marathon in 2016 as the official Cancer Research UK Mascot Shoe Barker (pictures attached).  This was an absolutely fantastic event and despite Shoe weighing a stone in weight, we still got round in a good time. I am very active on Social Media too and this was picked up by CRUK during my 2015 marathon journey so myself along with 2 fellow CRUK runners, Debbie Ward and Gower Tan, are now the Social Media Ambassadors for the London Marathon Cancer Research UK Facebook campaign.  We write about our marathon journeys and we advise other runners on all things from running tips, injury tips (I have had a few), kit tips, fundraising tips, how to get to the start line, you name it we can help them or point them in the direction of someone who can. 

Training is going ok this year. Had a chest infection which has taken me out for 3 weeks but there are so many bugs going around this year that I didn't really think I would get through without getting something.  I do run with my local ladies running group the Muckle Toon Joggers so I am lucky that I have company on most of my big runs and if I have to run solo I just put my tunes on and get going.  London is an absolutely amazing event.  The whole weekend is amazing and the day itself cannot be beaten.  Fellow runners and the support you get around the whole of the course is just amazing.  You just want to take in every second of the day and even when you hit the wall at mile 20 the crowd just keep shouting your name and give you that second wind.  I ran with Shazza on my vest in 2017 and that really kept me going - everyone was go Shazza, you can do this Shazza."