Good luck to our Great North Runners! 

Today’s Great North Run will see a team of 60 runners heading to the sunny North East to run 13.1 miles from city to sea in aid of Brain Tumour Research. 

Among those running for research is Anne Hayes, who is taking on the challenge in memory of her daughter, Bernadette Summerson, who died of a glioblastoma (GBM) in 2014, aged 31. Anne will run with her son, James (pictured with Anne after last year’s Great North Run), and youngest daughter, Mary Jo, and says the family hopes to spare others their heartache in the future. She added: “I know Bernadette will be so proud of us doing this together in her precious memory.” 

It’s full steam ahead for West Midlands Trains employee, Tom Harty, who is hoping to complete his half marathon in less than 96 minutes. He is running to “give something back” after a family member died from a rare type of cancer in 2019. Tom’s employers, West Midlands Trains, announced a charity partnership with Brain Tumour Research in May with the aim to raise £50,000 over two years. 

Another of our corporate partners will be cheering on a colleague as they take on this great challenge. Annabel Howell is a Marketing Assistant at Verdant Leisure, which is supporting Brain Tumour Research as its charity of the year and hopes to raise £50,000 over the course of the partnership. Having previously run a 10km race, Annabel pushing herself to go the half marathon distance and is running with her cousin, Dylan Stafford, and his boyfriend, Stevie Hilton. 

Good luck to everyone taking on the Great North Run for Brain Tumour Research. We’ll be cheering you over that finish line. 

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