20 for 20 for Brain Tumour Research: Friend’s diagnosis prompts Littlehampton mum’s charity run

Maz Hall, a teaching assistant at Lyminster Primary School, heard her friend’s diagnosis just two days before coming across the 20 for 20 for Brain Tumour Research challenge on Facebook, so she signed up for it straightaway.

The 42-year-old, who has five children aged from six to 17, will be running for 20 minutes on 20 days, back-to-back, inspired by her friend of 20 years, who she met as an undergraduate at University of Roehampton London.

Maz said: “It’s early days for my friend. She is still waiting for her next appointment but they’ve told her it looks fairly small at the moment, so I’m hopeful she’ll be ok.

“In the meantime, I’ll try to do what I can to help because the more money that can go towards research, the faster they’ll be able to come up with better treatments, improving people’s chances of survival.

“I started running at the start of lockdown last April because I needed not to be in the house all the time. I’ve lost five stone since then.

“I started with the Couch to 5k, then I did a charity run for the local children’s hospice and I found that it’s better to actually have a purpose to run rather than just run for the sake of it, so I try to pick a different charity every month.”

Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer, yet historically just one per cent of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this disease.

Charlie Allsebrook, community development manager for Brain Tumour Research, said: “It’s great to see so many people taking part in this challenge, many of whom are using it as a way to improve their fitness whilst raising awareness and funds for research into brain tumours.

“We’re grateful for Maz’s support and wish her friend the best for the future.”

To support Maz’s fundraising, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/maz-chapman4