Big Bro Race helps to boost the funds of the Love Your Nodes appeal

Competitors put their strength, energy, endurance and speed to the test during an annual fundraising challenge.

Over 80 people took part in the Big Bro Race at The Playground, in Barrow, with a total of £1,000 being donated to the My WiSH Charity’s Love Your Nodes appeal.

It was organised by Bury St Edmunds campaigner Laura Hudson who has a passion for raising money for good causes … especially to boost research and funds for cancer.

The event is a triathlon with a bit of a twist. Bro stands for bike, run and obstacle and it featured a 4k off road run, followed by a 24k bike ride and ends with a 25 obstacles outdoor assault course which is run by Nick and Phil Smith.

It is a timed event and every participant is given a timing chip, so they could either beat the previous years’ time, set a new course record, or just a personal goal and is open to both men and women aged 16 and over.

Those taking part raised a total of £3,000 with the rest of the funds being donated to the GeeWizz charity, which is run by Gina Long with the aim of providing specialist equipment to children, young adults and their families, living with a life-threatening condition, a disability or cancer. The money from the Big Bro went specifically to six-year-old Jasmine who has spastic cerebral palsy so she could have much needed physiotherapy in her home.

The Love Your Nodes appeal was launched in 2017 and raised £25,000 to purchase a Sentimag machine to treat patients with breast cancer. The machine aids the removal of the first lymph node by using a vial of magnetic beads which land in the first node making finding it accurate and quicker for the surgeon meaning less invasive treatment to the patient, quicker recover and less chance of life affecting complications. Each vial of beads costs £200.

Laura said: “My background has always been in supporting Cancer Research and breast cancer and I wanted to donate to something which drives me.”

The 39-year-old mother of twin boys, who lives in Mayfield Road, has been responsible for running the Big Bro Race for the past three years and added: “It was terrible weather on the day of the event last September but people turned up to take part. My dad died of cancer when I was really young and it has spurred me on to raise money for the illness. Giving it to My WiSH means that five women will have treatment with the machine making such a huge difference and it is an incredible feeling for me knowing that.”

Nick said: “We are very proud to support both GeeWizz and My WiSH, two local charities who offer great transparency with where people’s hard earned money goes. We are delighted that since the Playground opened its doors three years ago we have now raised over £30,000 for various charities and long may that continue.”

Sue Smith, the head of fundraising for My WiSH, said: “We cannot thank Laura, Nick and Phil enough for this donation. The vials of beads used with the Sentimag machine we purchased for West Suffolk Hospital cost £200 so this donation will aid the treatment for five patients with breast cancer. That’s just amazing, and on behalf of those patients I would also like to express a huge thank you!”

Pictured above are Sue Smith with the cheque for £1,000 along with Nick and Phil Smith and Laura Hudson.