Somerset woman to run 290 miles for cancer charity

Laura Briggs hopes to raise £5,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support

A woman is hoping to complete a 290 mile run in six days in support of a friend who is receiving palliative care for cancer.

Laura Briggs will run from Boston in Lincolnshire to Abbotsbury in Dorset to support Mo Laughton, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2017.

She begins the challenge on Saturday and hopes to raise £5,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

"Mo can't run. But I can run for her," said Ms Briggs, from Somerset.

Ms Briggs will be running the Macmillan Way, a route devised to raise awareness for the cancer charity.

Ms Briggs' friend Mo Laughton was told she only had weeks to live when she was diagnosed with cancer in 2017

Ms Briggs, who lives in Somerton, said she had always wanted to do a running challenge.

"I couldn't really think of a better reason than to raise awareness and funds for the charity that has supported Mo and her family through the most difficult time of their lives," she said.

Ms Briggs is a keen runner and said she had always wanted to complete a running challenge "for a really good reason"

Ms Laughton was initially told that she had only weeks to live when she was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 40, in 2017.

The cancer had spread from her breast to her stomach, lungs, kidney and bowel, with her life expectancy extended through weekly chemotherapy.

She is still undergoing palliative care treatment through Yeovil Hospital's Macmillan Ward and is being supported by her husband Ben.

Ms Briggs said that thanks to the charity, her friend "is still able to enjoy a decent quality of life".

Macmillan's senior fundraising manager for the South West and Midlands, Genevieve Drinkwater, said: "Everyone who takes part in a fundraising event for Macmillan has their own special reason and the funds they raise help us to do whatever it takes to support people living with cancer.

"We cannot thank Laura and her supporters enough."