News story
18 February 2026
A leading hospital charity in the East of England has praised the resilience of its runners in this year’s TTP Cambridge Half Marathon – reminding everyone who comes to cheer on the day that every runner taking part has a personal story to tell.
All of the 210 runners who will be running on behalf of Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT) on the day are raising funds to help build a pioneering new cancer hospital on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, close to Addenbrooke’s.
As the official hospital charity for Addenbrooke’s, Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT), funds cutting-edge equipment, specialist staff, extra comforts and vital research to fund potential cures and help save lives, above and beyond what the NHS can provide.
The Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital (CCRH) is a first for the East of England and will bring world-leading research and clinical excellence under one roof, changing the story of cancer, and improving the lives of cancer patients across the UK and beyond.
Built over seven floors, the new hospital will house three world-leading University of Cambridge research institutes focussing on early detection, integrated cancer medicine and precision breast cancer medicine to accelerate and bring new innovations to the bedside faster, detect cancer earlier and treat it more precisely.
Praising the charity’s runners for their resilience, ACT’s Head of Community Fundraising, Donna Lee-Willis, said: “Every single one of our runners in this year’s half marathon has a story to tell of resilience and determination – about why they are running and what they, or their loved ones, have been through to bring them to where they are today. It has been incredibly moving hearing all their stories and why they are motivated to raise money for ACT to help raise funds to build the Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital in the city where this special event takes place.”
“The difference the hospital will make to the region, and beyond, is enormous – and we want everyone to get behind our runners not just by donating but also by coming along on the day to show their support and love and help get them across the finishing line.”
Among ACT’s TTP Cambridge Half Marathon runners this year is mother-of-two Sunita Mena, from Essex, who underwent a lifesaving liver transplant following acute liver failure. Sunita, who had been fit and healthy up until a few days before, later learnt her condition was brought on by two overlapping autoimmune conditions.
Unable to breathe following surgery, Sunita was given a tracheostomy – and had to re-learn how to walk, talk, eat and drink after the operation. Whilst recovering and undertaking regular physio and speech therapy sessions, Sunita was diagnosed with cancer and remarkably it was during her treatment that Sunita decided to sign up for this year’s half.
Talking about why she wanted to take part, Sunita said: “This for me is not ‘just a half marathon’. It’s a deeply personal way to honour a second chance at life, raise awareness of organ donation and support a future where cancer care improves the lives of many. This half marathon is my way of giving back, and in honour of my donor and her family, my fellow transplantees, cancer warriors and their families, and everyone facing health challenges along their journey.”
Although she finds it difficult to talk about her donor, Sunita says:
“Because of the selfless gift of my donor, I get to lace up my trainers and take part in this race. On the day — as with every day — she will be in my thoughts, every mile of the way. Her life may have been cut short, but her legacy lives on. There will be two of us on race day – and we will do this together.”
Running for the second year in a row is Chris Doughty, 47, from Elmswell in Suffolk who is keen to raise money for the new cancer hospital after his son, Oli, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia back in 2018 when he was just 10 years old and treated at Addenbrooke’s. (Oli is pictured with dad Chris, and when younger with brother Tom below)
In a cruel twist of fate, Chris and his wife, Claire, found out Oli had leukaemia whilst supporting their close friends, Garry and his wife, Lisa, who were going through the same journey after their daughter, Arlea, then 11, had been diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia a year earlier.
The two men, whose friendship spans over 20 years after meeting in the prison service where they both work, ran the Cambridge half for ACT last year, along with Chris’s wife Claire, Chris’ daughter Lottie, now 22, and son Tom, now 25. Together they raised over £6,000 for the new cancer hospital.
Although it is just Chris running this year, both men want to use their experiences to raise awareness of childhood cancer and to champion the new cancer hospital and the innovative new treatments and specialist facilities that it will offer – something that Garry has experienced himself after Arlea relapsed back in 2024.
Garry said even with only five years between Arlea finishing her treatment and her second cancer diagnosis, he could see how much treatments for cancer patients like Arlea had progressed. The now 20-year-old received genetic mapping as part of her second treatment and whilst she wasn’t able to undergo immunotherapy treatment, she received a progressive treatment called Car-T therapy and later underwent a bone marrow transplant thanks to a donor from Germany.
Describing childhood cancer as a “whole world you don’t want to be exposed to”, Garry said the care that Arlea had received at Addenbrooke’s had been “second to none.”
“I think we’re lucky to be living where we are, that we’ve got Addenbrooke’s, so you think to yourself, anything that we can do, whether it’s just buying a bit of kit, anything really, to try and ease that pressure to make that ambition of a new cancer hospital become a reality, then we’ve got to give it a go and try and do what we can do.”
Chris, who is hoping to beat his time from last year, added: “When you’re talking about tablets costing £5,000 it feels like a drop in the ocean but every pound makes a real difference, and we are very, very fortunate to have Addenbrooke’s so just to be able to feel like you’re doing something, that’s the reason I am running.”
Both Garry and Sunita say they are now huge advocates of the new cancer hospital – Garry because he has seen the huge advancements in cancer treatments in the years between Arlea’s two treatments and Sunita because as a transplant patient, she will always be more vulnerable to cancer because of the immunosuppressants.
“Organ transplant recipients face a higher risk of developing cancer because the immunosuppressive medication needed to protect the transplanted organ also reduces the body’s ability to detect and fight abnormal cells. This makes early detection, specialist care, and ongoing research especially important for people like me.”
Other runners supporting ACT and raising money for the new hospital include an orthopaedic consultant, a professor from the Early Cancer Detection Institute, a mum whose son was diagnosed with cancer at a very young age and was treated at Addenbrooke’s as well as a runner diagnosed with a rare condition called Addison’s Disease. He hopes to raise awareness around the condition where the body isn’t able to produce the vital hormones needed to cope with everyday stress, exercise and living in general. He is running to thank the staff at Addenbrooke’s who helped save his life after he collapsed at home. His girlfriend gave him CPR until the ambulance crew arrived.
Last year, ACT’s 200 runners raised an impressive £150,000, with Donna adding, “This year we have 210 runners supporting ACT – and we would be over the moon if we could raise even more money this year for a hospital that will make a real difference to so many lives in the region, across the UK and globally too.”
The new hospital is a benchmark for the Government’s ten-year plan for cancer announced earlier this month, which focuses on innovation, early detection and precision treatment – areas that ACT already invests heavily in.
Shelly Thake, Chief Executive, at ACT said: “Last week’s announcement around the Government’s new ten-year plan around cancer aligns strongly with the vision our supporters have been helping us deliver for years. A significant amount of what we do is directly addressed in the plan – funding pioneering early detection, seed funding a groundbreaking personalised breast cancer programme and providing access to clinical trials for children with cancer.”
“Nothing sums up our commitment to the ambitions of the new plan more than our fundraising for the new Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital. The ambitions of the plan are in the very DNA of the new hospital, and we are proud to be part of this year’s TTP Cambridge Half Marathon, helping to raise funds for patient care across the region and beyond.”
“We are grateful to all our 210 runners taking part on the day and will be there at the start and finish line, and at our cheer point in St John’s College, cheering them on.”
Described as one of the UK’s bucket-list races, the TTP Cambridge Half Marathon attracts runners from across the UK because of its scenic route through the historic streets of Cambridge, taking in the colleges of Cambridge University – cheered on by one of the most supportive communities of fellow runners and crowds in the UK.
You can read Sunita’s full story here and Chris, Oli’s, Garry and Arlea’s story here.
To donate to Sunita’s fundraising page, click here.
To donate to Chris’s fundraising page, click here.
To donate to the Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital, please click here.
Both their stories feature on ACT’s radio show, ACT’s Amazing People, on the episode airing Sunday 22 March at midday. All episodes of ACT’s Amazing People can also be found here on our website.
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