Moving Story of Alumna Who Ran Half Marathon in Honour of Her Dad
- jenelysanjuan
- Apr 1
- 2 min read
Alumna, Megan Griffiths recently took on the challenge of running the Bath Half Marathon, in honour of her father, Andy Griffiths, an AISHK staff member. She shared her motivations and experience of running the half marathon,
My dad and I were really close growing up, and he is, and will always be the person I look up to in life, so losing dad was extremely painful and difficult for me and my family.
I chose to fundraise for Bowel Research UK because sadly bowel cancer was the cancer my dad suffered from, so I thought there was no better way to honour him than to raise money for this amazing charity. In 5 months of fundraising, I managed to raise £1,368, which blew my mind. I am so grateful for the support from the AISHK community for donating and spreading awareness for such a meaningful and important cause.
On the day of the run, I was extremely nervous and intimidated, because I have never run that distance, but all the runners and people on the sidelines were so supportive and had such encouraging signs and posters which definitely kept me going. Additionally, my mother, brother and friends all travelled to Bath to support me, and seeing them on the side cheering me on gave me a boost of energy to continue. I am eternally grateful for them showing up.
According to Bowel Research UK, bowel cancer is the 4th most common cancer in the UK. Almost 44,000 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer each year. The charity provides essential support services for patients and families to help improve the quality of life and cancer care for those affected.
Seeing my dad battle cancer for 18 months is what motivated me to get educated, want to raise awareness and help fundraise for charities that have given my dad and many others the support and care they need.
Running the Bath Half-Marathon is by far one of my best and most meaningful milestones that I have achieved in my life. I felt his presence so wholeheartedly and I am so happy and proud that I did it for dad.
