McColgan joins marathon record bid

Thursday 19th April 2012

World Championships gold medal winner Liz McColgan is calling on distance runners to join her in a marathon relay world record attempt to raise money for a charity committed to fighting brain tumours.

Liz, who won gold at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo as well as Commonwealth gold in 1986 and 1990 and Olympic silver in 1988, is urging runners to sign up to RelayGB, a world record attempt for the most back-to-back marathons.

The event will see hundreds of runners covering 2,600 miles around Britain in more than 100 non-stop marathons, while raising £500,000 in aid of Brain Tumour UK.

RelayGB, supported by Adidas, will take place between May 4 and 24. he current world record for long distance relay running stands at 1,923 miles.

The route starts in London and will make a circuit of Britain, taking in Southampton, Bristol, Cardiff, Liverpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Newcastle.

Liz will run the 26 miles between Arbroath and St Andrews, passing through Dundee and crossing the Tay on May 16 before handing over to the next set of runners.

Carolyn Pierpont, 33, from Montrose, Angus, is running two marathon legs in RelayGB with her partner, Mark, 32, who has first hand experience of brain tumours. She said: "The day we were told Mark had a cancerous Brain Tumour will haunt us for the rest of our lives, however we have to take the positive from it and look to what we can do to make a difference.

"Mark and I are extremely proud to be running in RelayGB to raise awareness of this formidable cancer. We have to keep brain tumour issue in the public eye, we have to educate people about the signs and symptoms, we have to keep the level or awareness up if we are to win the fight against Brain tumours."

Liz is calling for runners to join her in the record breaking attempt. She said: "I'm supporting RelayGB because I am inspired by Carolyn and Mark's motivation to raise funds and awareness."

Entry fees start from £30. Each runner will also be asked to raise whatever they can for Brain Tumour UK. The event is open to individuals and teams. For more information and to sign up visit http://www.relaygb.org.

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