Guest blog: How the 5k Your Way revolution is 'kindly, quietly, powerfully' getting cancer patients moving
Gillian Russell, from MOVE Against Cancer, takes a look at how people impacted by cancer are being welcomed into the parkrun community
“The best project you’ll ever work on is you”.
At our 5k Your Way (5KYW) meet-ups you’ll see those words on the back of our hoodies, but you’ll feel them in the air too.
It’s something that chimes with Lincoln ambassador, Dan: “At a time in my life where everyone told me to rest and hide from the world while I started dealing with my cancer, 5k Your Way gave me the permission, motivation and drive to keep active”.
On the last Saturday of the month, at more than 100 designated parkruns across the UK and Ireland, people impacted by cancer meet to walk, jog, run, cheer, volunteer or simply have coffee and a chat.
Andrea, who attends the 5KYW group in Kilmarnock, loves that it’s all about you: “You can run, jog, walk or stroll, all at your own pace. I have walked the 5k twice now and felt so much better afterwards”.
Countless ambassadors and participants, like Valerie from Pontypridd, enthuse not just about the physical benefits of movement but about the mental health impact too: “It is very good for our mental health. It makes us laugh. It gives us a life without cancer. This group helps us to feel normal”.
The lightbulb moment that launched a movement:
Seven years ago oncologist and former professional triathlete, Dr Lucy Gossage, had a lightbulb moment.
“The idea for 5k Your Way came when I was working with some teenage and young adult patients,” she said.
“Many of these patients receive long, tough courses of chemotherapy. During treatment they do little other than sit in their hospital room.
“After treatment we offer little to help them regain their fitness. I wanted to set up something that would help change this. I knew that the best way to instigate change would be by including healthcare professionals in the change.
“What better way to do this by creating a community within the wonderful community that is parkrun?”
So, alongside Gemma Hillier-Moses, who founded the MOVE Against Cancer charity two years previously, they created 5k Your Way. Since launching that first group in Nottingham the initiative has grown massively.
Our mission at MOVE Against Cancer is simple: to support, inspire and empower every single person impacted by cancer to live an active and fulfilling life. Exercise is one of the most important things anyone diagnosed with cancer can do to enhance wellbeing and improve health outcomes both during and after treatment.
As well as providing the 5k Your Way initiative, MOVE runs an eight week virtual support programme for anyone aged 13-30 diagnosed with cancer and a resources hub on its website full of workshops, Q&As, inspirational blogs and a podcast to help those impacted by cancer and support them to move.
‘A cancer patient will never complain about the weather’:
While the physical and mental health benefits of movement are celebrated at 5k Your Way, so too is the sense of belonging.
“For me 5k Your Way is about the friendship and support this amazing community offers,” said Sarah from the Shrewsbury group.
In Naas, even the unpredictable weather doesn’t dampen Sean’s enthusiasm: “Let me tell you a recovering cancer patient will never complain about the weather. Come along on a Saturday and feel the warmth and sunshine inside.”
It’s probably no exaggeration to say that while fitness is gained, friendships are made, mental health is boosted and support is shared, lives are meanwhile changing for the better.
“The ripple effect of 5k Your Way spreads far beyond the groups themselves,” said Lucy.
“Simply by existing we are showcasing what is possible with cancer and we’re challenging the myth that ‘rest is best’.”
Back in Nottingham, where 5k Your Way began, ambassador Debs recalled the very start of her 5KYW journey: “Complete strangers - people I’d never met before - walked alongside me, encouraged me, cheered me, my family and friends on.
“But not one person pushed me to go faster or keep up. No-one judged. They just… supported. Kindly, Quietly. Powerfully. That’s the magic of 5k Your Way - it really is ‘your way’.”
Gillian Russell, MOVE Against Cancer
Coming soon on the Running Tales Podcast - Delaney Dawson: From cancer to ‘Superhalfs’
As part of our celebration of the work of 5k Your Way, we have a very special episode of the Running Tales Podcast coming soon.
Delaney Dawson is a runner, coach and 5k Your Way ambassador from Surrey in England.
A self-proclaimed ‘running weirdo’ who loved cross-country at school, she became a regular runner, completing seven marathons, training every week with friends and even planning her holidays around races.
In 2019, while training for an ultra, she suffered a back injury which led her physio to tell she might not be able to run again. It took two years of recovery and rehabilitation before she returned to running - and even then, it was only for 30 seconds at a time.
Through sheer determination, she continued to increase her distance and in September 2021, completed a 10km trail race. Horribly, more bad news was round the corner though as she was diagnosed with breast cancer just two weeks later.
Aged only 41, she was told the condition was curable but would require about nine months of intense treatment, plus ongoing medication to reduce the risk of recurrence.
Although her treatment stopped her running again, Delaney remained active and when 5k Your Way set up a group at her local parkrun at Nonsuch, she quickly signed-up to become an ambassador.
Delaney told Running Tales: “My philosophy throughout my cancer journey has been not to think myself into feeling ill but be kind to myself about the difficult experiences and just do what I can when I can.
“5k Your Way works on a similar principle - walk, run, volunteer or cheer and you don’t even have to walk the whole 5k – just do whatever is right for you on that day.”
After finishing her cancer treatment in June 2022, Delaney set about making up for lost time with her running. A year later, she finished the Midnight Sun Half Marathon in Reykjavik, Iceland battling wind, rain and the pain caused by the side effects of ongoing medication.
Since then, she has completed five of Europe’s ‘Superhalf’ races in Cardiff, Prague, Valencia, Lisbon and Berlin, with the goal of completing the set in Copenhagen this September - all while going through another surgery.
“I’m a slower runner than I used to be,” she said. “I know I will never get close to my previous PBs due the permanent effects of the cancer treatment that I’ve had and side-effects from the ongoing medication, but I’m ok with that.
“I choose to focus on what I can do rather than what I can’t do. Running has always given me a sense of freedom and I feel incredibly lucky to have regained that freedom.
“I’m now a qualified running coach and through my coaching and other volunteering I have the privilege in helping others to find their own freedom and joy in running.”
Delaney will be our guest on our live Running Tales show this Tuesday, June 10, starting at 6pm. The show will be broadcast on the social media channels of our partner, Run Tri Bike.
It will then appear as a podcast on the Everyday Athlete Podcast Network - which we are a part of - on Tuesday, June 17. Just search for the Everyday Athlete Podcast Network wherever you get your podcast fix to listen to all our episodes, and much more.
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