£23,000 raised at the Community Fun Run!

On Sunday 193 people of all ages took part in the Maccabi GB Community Fun Run raising funds for Nicki’s Smile.

Together they managed to raise an amazing £23,000 which will go towards funding pancreatic cancer early diagnosis research initiatives.

Taking place at the home of Saracens, Allianz Park, this was the first year that Nicki’s Smile had entered the Community Fun Run and we’re truly humbled to have been represented by the 4th largest contingent of runners out of the 48 charities that took part.

With a total of over 2,000 runners and 1,500 spectators the only thing that didn’t shine on this English summer’s day was, somewhat predictably, the sun. Still, the weather was perfect for covering distances including 1km, 5km, 5km walk and 10km with a few suspiciously fit people taking on all three runs.

Of course, it wasn’t just the running (or pushing buggies around the 1km route) that kept people entertained as there was a Fun Zone amusing the children and experts were on hand promoting how to maintain an active and healthy lifestyle at the Health & Wellbeing Hub. Perhaps they shouldn’t have checked in at the Charity Fair which, in addition to promoting the good work of the charities, was busy peddling popcorn, candy floss and brownies.

In our own unhealthy competition it’s congratulations to Leila Sosnow who was closest with her guess of 1,800 to the correct number of jelly beans in the jar on our stand. We’ll be in touch to deliver your prize and would suggest not eating them all at once.

Dan Blake, chair of Nicki’s Smile said “We are delighted that our runners have raised an incredible £23,000 for Nicki’s Smile. This sensational amount will catalyse our early diagnosis research efforts and help us to achieve our aim of improving pancreatic cancer survival statistics. We are truly grateful to our runners and their supporters and look forward to the 2016 Maccabi GB Community Fun Run!”

Date for your diaries: Next year’s run will take place on Sunday 19th June 2016. We look forward to seeing you there!