Lynn to run her very first half marathon for the Sheffield Hospital Trust

Meet Lyn from Lincolnshire who is on a mission to run her very first half marathon.

Lynn will be running the Sheffield Mutual Sheffield Half Marathon on Sunday 7^th April for the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. “Professor Newell Price neuroendocrine team saved my life! I am cancer-free. This is honouring them!”

Having spent all her life avoiding running more than 100 metres, Lynn is on a mission to tell her story. 

“I am not a runner. I have spent almost 50 years of my existence avoiding running more than 100 meters. But I am on a mission and I have a story to tell.

"I have a hospital to thank. Sheffield, I have you to thank.

In 2017 I was diagnosed with Neuroendocrine Cancer. Through research, I discovered there is a Centre of Excellence based in Sheffield, working across both Hallamshire and Northern General.  The team in Sheffield not only carried out my life-saving operation and intestinal resection but they monitored me over the last 6 years and declared me ‘No Evidence of Disease’ (NED) in March 2023.

"I was elated.

“My elation was short-lived. A few weeks later my daughter was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. She is only 26 years old. She is mother to a beautiful 4-year-old. She has her entire life ahead of her and she has something I cannot fix.

“When faced with trauma like this, we either roll up our sleeves and battle it (as I did with my cancer) or you run from it.  Toni’s MS diagnosis is not a battle I can fight. I can only support her, love her and be there to help her when she needs me. So, I figured, I will run … I am running FROM the MS, I am running FOR the MS and I am running in support of my daughter, who, coincidentally, is being treated by the team in Sheffield!

“So, I am running to thank Sheffield’s Hospitals and raising funds for their charity. They are amazing people, from reception staff to porters, to cleaners, that chap who set up my cannula for my contrast scan, the lady who hugged me when I was crying as my daughter was taken for a lumbar puncture … every person who is affiliated to the hospital, I want to thank you!

“But I have a problem. Sheffield is not flat. And I did not look at the profile of the run BEFORE I signed up. It is very lumpy. The first 8 kilometers are practically vertical … gulp … up until March, I had not run more than 5km (when I did the ‘Couch to 5k the fun way’, with Huw Williams – a fellow Neuroendocrine cancer patient, and previous Ultra Marathon runner!).

“I am now following the Coopah running programme, which is guiding me through the next 12 weeks, increasing my run distances and pace. There are strength exercises to follow and I am sticking to the plan and chatting with the coaches online when I need to. I have a painful left hip and seeing an Osteopath for this, which seems to be helping. But I am getting there and have been hugely encouraged by the Just Giving donations on my page.

"So please cheer me on, either on the day, on my Strava, on social media, or via donations through my Just Giving page. And if you’re really brave (or just plain daft, like me) sign up and run with me."

Good luck Lynn, we can't wait to cheer you on at the finish line! 

The Sheffield Mutual Sheffield Half Marathon is set to take place on Sunday 7^th April. To find out more and sign up click here