During lockdown, when Lucy and Richard from Sheffield were looking for interesting ways to keep fit, they discovered our Retro Run Series. As if taking on the series wasn’t enough, they challenged themselves even further – by completing the whole series in just a week. In Lucy’s case, not bad for someone who’d never run before!
They both know the devastation that cancer can cause, having lost several relatives to the disease, including Richard’s Nanna Mavis, who passed away in 2015. They told us their reasons for choosing to take on the Retro Running Series for Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation:
“We chose to run all the races in a week as we wanted to challenge ourselves, capture imaginations and inspire others.
As a family, we’ve been impacted a lot by the effects of cancer, and we wanted to be able to help in some way. As we read more about what the charity is about, that made our minds up.
“We thought it would be meaningful for us to do something in memory of the members of our family that we have lost. Additionally, because we know how difficult it is to go through such loss, we wanted to help other families by raising awareness of the symptoms of lung cancer to hopefully prevent them suffering the losses we have.”
Lucy discovered the Retro Run Series by chance. “I was looking for ways for us to get out and exercise throughout the pandemic,” she says, “and I came across the Roy Castle Retro Run Series. I thought it was really cool because I love the different eras of music. The series really stood out from the other virtual runs out there. We both loved the playlists for each decade! The Retro Runs really inspired us and kept us motivated throughout the uncertainty of this year.
“Richard has run a few races before, including a half marathon in 2014, but I hate running! I hadn’t run any kind of distance before and thought running 5km without stopping would be impossible. I certainly proved myself wrong!
We did two practice runs before starting the challenge. These gave me the confidence that I could run that distance, and I got some experience of how to pace myself. After that, we just threw ourselves into it!”
Richard describes the elation they both felt once they’d finished their last run: “When we completed all of them, we were both on a real high!
“We were making regular update videos for our friends and family to watch. So, after posting the last one we watched them all back through and then celebrated with a takeaway! Lucy felt a huge sense of achievement as she hadn’t ever run 5km before. So to do five in one week was a big challenge – but she did it!
We’re proud to have completed the series for Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation and in memory of our loved ones; Lucy’s mum, my Nanna Mavis, Grandad Clifford and Uncle Martin.”
