York Guides

William Green (Yorkshire Post)

A YORKSHIRE police chief fighting cancer and helping lead the investigation into the July 7 suicide bombers is taking part in the Great North Run for charity.

West Yorkshire Chief Constable Colin Cramphorn has been battling prostate cancer and is now receiving treatment for a tumour on his spine, at the same time as dealing with the aftermath in the county of the July 7 attacks on London.
He is planning to take part in the Great North Run with colleagues next month to raise money for Yorkshire Cancer Research – a charity he says is "most dear to my heart" in light of the treatment and support he has received.
Mr Cramphorn also said it is the 80th anniversary of the charity and it funds world-class research at York, Leeds, Bradford and Sheffield universities.
"I am, therefore, in training battling with cramp, rising weight problems – due to the drugs I am on – and if that is not enough, running in lashing rain and red hot sun, but nothing in between," he said in a letter to potential sponsors.
"I am now only too aware how this illness strikes an enormous amount of people, touching many lives of not only those battling with the symptoms of cancer but also their families, friends and colleagues who all too often have also to witness the highs and lows."
Mr Cramphorn is offering sponsors the chance to win a bottle of champagne, cognac or whisky in a sweepstake on the time it takes him to complete the half-marathon.
The chief constable's lifetime best for a half-marathon is 1 hour, 26 minutes and 37 seconds, although his most recent time in 1977 was just under 10 minutes slower.
Mr Cramphorn's target for the Great North Run is two hours.