Mum’s breast cancer battle inspires Northallerton non-runner to tackle Great North Run

(L-R) Wharton Construction directors Matthew Wharton and Chris Lee time one of Rowena Wallace’s training runs as she prepares for the Great North Run.

Rowena Wallace is preparing to tackle the Great North Run for the very first time after she was inspired by her own mother’s fight against breast cancer.

The mother-of-two, from Northallerton, is raising money for Breast Cancer Now, which funds world class research into a disease that claimed 11,499 lives between 2016 and 2018.

She was motivated to pull on her running shoes after her mum Teresa Thompson was diagnosed during the first Covid-19 lockdown with lobular carcinoma, a particularly invasive form of breast cancer.

“She found it quite by chance and fortunately it was both diagnosed and treated very quickly,” she said.

“The surgeons removed a 7cm tumour, and she then underwent a mastectomy followed by radiotherapy and is now on daily medication. Thankfully, she’s recovering but I know the great toll it has had on her both physically and mentally – which is why I wanted to do something positive to contribute towards eradicating this terrible disease.”

Rowena, who is Chair of the Friends of the School at Sacred Heart Primary in Northallerton and supports the North Yorkshire Soccer Academy under 10’s football team by volunteering as its funding and events co-ordinator, chose to take up running.

She initially joined the ‘Couch to 5k’ programme and has since built up the distance until she is ready for her first 13.1 mile half marathon on Sunday 11th September.

Her efforts are being supported with sponsorship from by family-run Wharton Construction, where she is head of business development.

“I’ll be thinking of my mum and the many thousands of women who receive the same devastating diagnosis every year on my way round,” added Rowena “It’s the world’s biggest and best half marathons, so I’m excited to be taking part and pleased I’m running on behalf of Britain’s largest breast cancer charity.”

Matthew Wharton, a director of Darlington-based Wharton Construction, said: “We’re all immensely proud of Rowena, given that that until very recently she was a complete non-runner.

“Not only has she shown a great deal of determination to enter the Great North Run, but she is doing it for a magnificent cause and everyone at Wharton Construction is tremendously proud of her.”

To donate visit: https://greatnorthrun.enthuse.com/pf/rowena-wallace-b53e7#greatnorthrun2022

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