Woman who runs marathons dressed as a polar bear raises more than £1 MILLION for charity
A UK school teacher has raised more than £1 MILLION for a cancer charity, spurred on by the tragic loss of her father.
And she’s broken a couple of records along the way… all while dressed as a polar bear.
Gill, from Essex, claimed her latest record earlier this month when she took on the PolarNight Marathon in Tromsø, Norway.
In an impressive 4 hr 58 min 29 sec, she claimed the record for fastest ice marathon dressed as a mammal (female).
The PolarNight Marathon follows a route in darkness through a harsh mountain pass, and runners have to contend with temperatures of around -10°C (14°F).
As difficult as it was, Gill was beaming by the end, because the £21,000 ($25,628) she raised for Cancer Research UK (CRUK) took her total fundraising total to £1.96 million ($2.39 m), all in memory of her dad Mike, who died in 1999 at the age of 56.
She told us: “It was a great honour to run the prestigious PolarNight Marathon in Tromsø. Norway's biggest winter race saw us all facing hostile, hard, challenging conditions but what an exhilarating adventure to run in such stunning scenery with kindred spirits and raise money for a worthy cause at the same time.
“My last marathon was in Athens, so the temperature was a little different – but what a privilege!”
Gill says her polar bear costume became a mascot for charity CRUK.
She first broke a record in it in 2016 while running the London marathon.
She achieved the fastest marathon in a full-body animal costume (female) in 4 hr 21 min 8 sec. Her record was later broken by other runners.
Explaining how this all began, Gill, 54, said: “I lost my father at a young age to cancer of the bile duct and this awful event began my fundraising adventures for CRUK.There is probably not a family in the UK or the entire world that has not been affected by this dreadful disease. So I will continue doing all I can to support CRUK in their vital work.”
She added: “For nearly 27 years I have been raising funds and awareness to beat cancer and so far, I have raised over £1.96 million, and I am truly thankful to all my supporters. However, one in two of us [in the UK] will get cancer in our lifetime. The number of cases is rising, so it has never been more urgent to beat cancer.
“This means funding the brilliant researchers to make more discoveries, and harnessing those discoveries to drive progress in prevention, tests and treatments. So, I will keep going until we reach the ultimate finish line… a world without cancer!
It is brilliant to be a Guinness World Records title holder. Hopefully, my story will help inspire others to find, and then embark on innovative volunteering adventures to improve our communities.
Gill says she’ll never forget the PolarNight Marathon and will fondly remember the other runners, the crunch of the snow beneath her feet, and seeing the Northern Lights as she entered the final stretch.
