The members of the Toucan Harriers Running Club are trying to run the distance from Shelford to Cartago, Colombia (8,640km) in just 4 months. Why? In memory of our friend Will.

Will George died of cancer in February 2021. He was 42, and he left behind a wife, Carolina, and three children, Seb, Nick, and Victoria. Will was first diagnosed with cancer 8 years before he died, and eventually couldn't keep it at bay any longer. Will spent his last couple of weeks at the Arthur Rank Hospice, on the outskirts of Cambridge, near to his home. For those of us who knew him, who were terrified and worried for him, it was a tremendous reassurance to discover how comfortable, relaxed, and peaceful a place the hospice was for him. Will met death as he met life, with confidence, composure, and calmness.

Even before his diagnosis, Will loved life. He was open and generous and lived to his own rules. He could count friends in the 100s, in the UK and around the world. After his diagnosis, Will found a way to love life even more. He continued to work hard, but he made sure to enjoy himself, and to make sure that his family and friends were enjoying themselves too. And almost above all, he protected all of these people he loved from just how hard his life with cancer sometimes was. He made it very easy for everyone else.

Will was from a village just outside Cambridge called Great Shelford. His wife Carolina is from Cartago in Colombia. So in memory of Will, and to raise money for the Arthur Rank Hospice Charity so that they can continue to help others in the way they helped Will, the members of the Toucan Harriers Running Club - mostly friends of Will's since his youth - are trying to run the distance from Shelford to Cartago, Colombia (8,640km), between the date of his funeral (26th February 2021) and the date of the Shelford Feast (10th July 2021). Will was one of the organisers of this annual festival, and this year's event will be a fitting tribute and celebration of this wonderful, beautiful person.

Running this distance is a stiff challenge - not least considering that the majority of the Toucan Harriers were not regular runners at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (and many still aren't!) - but it's nothing in comparison with the challenge that Will, and people like Will, face every day.

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The Toucan Harriers are: Nick Harding, Oli Holland, John Keane, Rob Hargraves, Matt Skelding, Richard Barrett-Small, Rob Cawston, Max Rushden, Fraser McKeating, James Wrighton, Clive Sanders, David Sheppard, Nadim Zaman, Ian Smith. 

We welcome your donations and support. If you would like to know more about our challenge, track our progress, and even contribute some of your own kilometres, visit our club website: https://www.toucanharriers.co.uk/

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