A brain tumour patient has completed the prestigious Ironman UK endurance event, just months after finishing gruelling treatment for the disease.
Craig Johnston took on the Ironman UK triathlon event in Bolton, Greater Manchester, on Sunday. Starting at 6am, he completed a two-mile swim before cycling 112 hilly miles, then finishing off with a 26.2-mile marathon run. Amazingly, he had to learn to swim from scratch in order to qualify for the event.
Craig turned to fitness as a way of coping, following his diagnosis with an astrocytoma brain tumour in 2018. As he started to see his fitness improved, he set himself the ambitious goal of making it to the start line of the endurance event. Craig has had two brain surgeries, radiotherapy and in 2020, he started his second round of chemotherapy while continuing to train for the Ironman.
As well as smashing the hugely difficult event, Craig has raised more than £1,400 for Brain Tumour Research. He hopes to push that total over the £2,740 mark in order to sponsor a day of research at one of our Centres of Excellence.
He said: “I have personally benefitted from research into brain tumours but I am fully aware that funding for research into this awful disease is severely lacking, especially when you consider that brain tumours are indiscriminate and can affect anyone, at any age.”
If you are impressed by Craig’s Ironman efforts and would like to donate, please visit his JustGiving page: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/briangotmelted
Related reading:
If you found this story interesting or helpful, sign up to our weekly e-news and keep up to date with all the latest from Brain Tumour Research.