Friend who raced past 12 football league grounds in London raises hundreds for ill friend

A runner, whose best friend is battling cancer, has raced over 100km and raised £1,000 to cover his financial costs while he is in hospital.
Chris pictured at his last football ground - the Emirates Stadium after 12 gruelling hours of running for his best mate.Chris pictured at his last football ground - the Emirates Stadium after 12 gruelling hours of running for his best mate.
Chris pictured at his last football ground - the Emirates Stadium after 12 gruelling hours of running for his best mate.

Chris Lamb, 34, of Obelisk Rise met his friend Tommy Rawthrone at Kingsthorpe Middle School and following Tommy's cancer diagnoses he decided to take on a mammoth 100km run, past 12 football league stadiums, to raise money to help his friend financially while he is having chemotherapy.

Wolves fan Chris set off from Wembley stadium at 3am on Sunday (November 11) and arrived at Emirates stadium just after 3pm and raised £1,000, adding to the £12,000 previously gifted to Tommy's family on his JustGiving page.

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Chris said: "Although I personally set this challenge I certainly didn’t make things easy for myself. I knew it was going to be tough as I set quite a strict timescale with a deadline to make it to the finish in time to attend the Arsenal v Wolves match, as I’m a big Wolves supporter.

Tommy pictured as he undergoes treatment in hospital. (Picture supplied by Chris).Tommy pictured as he undergoes treatment in hospital. (Picture supplied by Chris).
Tommy pictured as he undergoes treatment in hospital. (Picture supplied by Chris).

"I didn’t leave much margin for error, or anything else for that matter, meaning when the heavens opened while I was at Brentford I couldn’t stay under cover for long and just had to push on and get soaked.

"The hardest section by far was when my thighs dramatically tightened up just after I’d completed the first marathon distance between Wimbledon and Crystal Palace, which meant a huge struggle for 20 miles until I reached Charlton. It was there that I met my dad and he was able to help me with some stretches and much needed energy boosts."

In July 2013 Tommy was ready to embark on a trip of a lifetime travelling with a friend round the world before he became seriously ill.

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Tommy fought back to fitness over the next year when his disease went into remission.

Over the next three years Tommy worked extremely hard to get his life back on track returning to work while being monitored regularly.

Having defied the odds of beating stage 4 cancer Tommy took a huge step and purchased his first home in September 2017. But in August 2018 he was told that the treatments did not work and the cancer is now terminal.

"The support I’ve received for this challenge and the overall support for Tommy has been amazing," Chris added.