My sister, Natasha, died in February 2010 at the age of 33 following a 4 year battle with breast cancer. It seems unbelievable that this was 14 years ago. Natasha was a kind, compassionate, fun-loving personality who endured such a difficult end to her life. I absolutely adored her growing up. Her character and then her devastating death when I was in my early-20s have played a big part in shaping the person I am. I was proud to be able to give my eldest daughter, Eleanor, Natasha’s name as a middle name when she was born in June 2020, one day shy of what would have been Natasha’s 44th birthday.

When Natasha was alive, she received cancer treatment partly from the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation. The Foundation offers trials to sometimes terminally ill patients who undergo trials that they know may not have any beneficial effect to themselves but could produce data which ultimately assists in the battle against cancer. Sir Bobby himself described the people who fall into this category as “utterly selfless and brave”.

As well as this family link to the Foundation, I also have the Newcastle United link, which means it isn’t just having little kids that contributes to my sleep deprivation these days, games kicking off in Australia any time from 10:30pm to 6am.

Since 2015, running has been an increasingly important part of my life routine. The benefits to my physical and mental health are marked and it’s been a great way to get to know my new surroundings post-emigration in 2018, even if it means a 4:30am start to avoid the worst of the summer heat.

From March – November this year I’m going to run ten half-marathon races and raise some money for the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation.

Anything you can give will be going to a great cause, and will help my motivation through the training and the races.

Thank you ❤️

Jack.

Manly - 10/03/24 ✅

Gold Coast - 28/04/24 ✅

Toowoomba - 05/05/24 ✅

Moggill (my home suburb!) - 19/05/24 ✅

Brisbane - 02/06/24 ✅

Jetty 2 Jetty (Redcliffe) - 21/07/24 ✅

Sunshine Coast - 11/08/24 ✅

River Run 100 (Brisbane) - 24/08/24 ✅

Melbourne - 13/10/24 ✅

Gold Coast 50 - 24/11/24

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Thank you for choosing to support Newcastle Hospitals Charity.

As the official Charity of Newcastle Hospitals, every penny raised is spent locally to improve the health and wellbeing of people in the North East and beyond. Home of the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, Great North Children's Hospital Foundation, Charlie Bear for Cancer Care. The charity helps to make a positive difference for the patients, staff and communities of Newcastle Hospitals.

To find out more about the work of the Charity visit https://charity.newcastle-hospitals.nhs.uk/