Kirsty Soanes, 25, from Norwich, laced up her running shoes to raise funds, having seen the importance of CCLG’s work in her role as a childhood cancer researcher.
Kirsty, who had never run a marathon before, trained four times a week to prepare herself for the 26.2-mile race, and battled through the pain barrier to finish in a time of four hours 59 minutes.
She said:
I loved it. It was good fun, but when you hit, like, the 19th mile, the real grit and determination starts. It was certainly difficult. I'm not really a long-distance runner. Most of the sports I play involve short running, like hockey. So, this was a whole new experience. But I just decided to give it a go. It was something I wanted to do. It was on my bucket list and on my dad's as well, because my dad did it in 2002, and he always wanted one of the kids to do it as well. I have my own medical issues, a lot of inflammation-related issues, so I was getting really bad cramps, problems with my knees and stomach, and all sorts going on [during the race]. So, to get through all of that and be successful just felt like a massive win for me. I was really proud of myself. It wasn’t easy, but it was an incredible experience. And I've never seen a crowd like it.
As a researcher, Kirsty has met a number of people affected by childhood cancer through her work, and she said that hearing their experiences, and keeping them in mind during the race and the months of training beforehand, helped to drive her on.
She said:
All I kept thinking was I'm lucky that I can do this. I'm lucky that I have the ability to run with both legs. The approach I took was ‘it might hurt, but at least I can do this’.
Kirsty explained that she wanted to fundraise for CCLG because of its commitment to driving progress and funding a broad range of research, which includes finding kinder, more effective treatments, with fewer long-term effects, for children and young people with cancer.
Kirsty and her colleagues are currently working on a CCLG-funded project which is focused on understanding more about a hard-to-treat childhood cancer called fusion-positive rhabdomyosarcoma.
This type of cancer happens when two genes get mistakenly fused together, helping the cancer to grow and spread. There are two types of fusion genes in rhabdomyosarcoma, but researchers know very little about them or how to combat their effects.
The research team are looking at the 3D structure of cell instructions, called RNA, that lead to the cancer cells producing the fusion gene. They want to find out what differences there are between the 3D structure of instructions for each fusion gene, and what impact it can have on patients.
Understanding this could help doctors learn more about cancer development and potentially predict responses to treatment.
Kirsty said: “We're working really hard on it and can see a vision for it. I'm hoping that it will give a new avenue for targeted therapies.”
Kirsty also praised CCLG’s information resources which provide support to patients and families throughout diagnosis, treatment and beyond, as well as its ability to bring together healthcare professionals to discuss and improve the treatment and care of paediatric cancer.
Kirsty herself is a member of CCLG’s professional membership association and benefits from being a part of its Early Career Researcher (ECR) Network.
CCLG’s ECR Network brings together researchers early in their careers, and creates a space for them to share insights, benefit from learning opportunities, and receive mentorship and guidance from established experts.
She said: “It’s good to be able to communicate and engage with other ECRs, especially at the very start of your career.
“Networking is really important. It’s where all the big ideas happen.”
Speaking on raising almost £3,000 for CCLG’s work, Kirsty said she was delighted to raise that amount because, as a researcher, she can see just how important fundraising is.
She said: “When you work in a lab, you get a bit more of a sense of how the money can be used.
“When you have that sort of context, it feels really good.”
