A team of runners, made up of staff and students from across the University, ran the ABP Southampton Half Marathon and 10km on 24 April, raising over £9,000 for our campaign for the Centre for Cancer Immunology.
The ABP Southampton Half Marathon and 10k offered our team the choice of 13.1 miles or 10km, along closed roads through the heart of Southampton. Both races started and finished in the heart of Southampton’s city centre with the course passing iconic local landmarks including the Bargate, QE2 Anchor and St Mary’s Stadium.
Professor Rachel Mills (BSc Oceanography with Chemistry, 1988), Dean of Natural and Environmental Sciences, was one of our team that ran the half marathon. “I’ve lived in Southampton for nearly 30 years, since I studied here as a student in the mid-eighties, and am really pleased to see the collective community activity associated with the Half Marathon. The crowds lining the streets, the familiar faces along the way, the entertainment and buzz really inspired me to push up those hills,” she says.
She explained that the reason she wanted to raise money for the Centre for Cancer Immunology was because it’s a really worthwhile cause and it is saving lives now. “Southampton scientists are making huge inroads into this new approach to cancer treatment and investment in the new Centre will be transformative for science and new innovative treatments.”
The campaign for the Centre for Cancer Immunology had a great presence at the event, with a stand run by a team of volunteers from the Office of Development and Alumni Relations and our student community, engaging with runners and spectators, as well as walking into the crowds with donation buckets. There was also a fantastic team of RAG volunteers that worked as mile markers, cheering on the runners down University Road.
This is a great way of raising funds and an excellent way of showing how important this cause is,” said Sir Christopher Snowden, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University.
For more information about the campaign for the Centre for Cancer Immunology visit www.southampton.ac.uk/youreit
To see more photos from the event, visit the campaign’s Facebook page
