Woman with terminal cancer to run Everest marathon

A woman with incurable breast cancer is preparing to travel to the Himalayas to take part in the world's highest marathon.

Shaunna Burke, 49, from Addingham, West Yorkshire, had booked her place on the Everest Marathon in 2024, but was forced to delay her plans for a year after she was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer.

The cancer had spread to her liver and in the past 12 months she underwent four months of chemotherapy, a double mastectomy, liver surgery and radiotherapy.

Dr Burke, a keen mountaineer and associate professor in exercise and health psychology, said: "I approached my treatment like I was training for the hardest climb of my life."

This will be her first marathon but not her first major summit.

She has previously climbed four out of the seven highest peaks in the world - Mount Aconcagua in Argentina, Elbrus in Russia, Kilimanjaro in Africa and Everest in Nepal.

Dr Burke has been to the Everest region three times before, first visiting back in 2003.

"Before my diagnosis, I was training for the Everest Marathon and to do this climb," she said.

"Then when the diagnosis struck my life, I took a sharp turn and I had to put a lot of short term plans on hold.

"Long term plans became very uncertain and at the time of my diagnosis, I thought there might not be a chance that I could get back to Nepal.

"There were some some very dark moments when I didn't know what I'd be facing," she said.

Dr Burke became the second Canadian woman to summit Everest in 2005 and since then she has also researched the psychology of mountaineering, and the preparation needed for a huge climb like Everest.

Dr Burke, whose work involves studying exercise and its effects on cancer, said throughout her cancer treatment she managed to stay fit, running to and from her hospital appointments as a way of coping.

"Each time I had treatment, I ran from my house to the chemotherapy bus and parked my car further away from St James's Hospital so I could run three miles to radiotherapy," she said.

"Staying active helped me to tolerate my treatment – I experienced few side effects, and it also helped me psychologically."

As a researcher into the links between exercise and cancer, Dr Burke said in a surreal way she "applied her own research to her own life".

She said: "I approached it with the mentality of a researcher in exercise and cancer.

"I'm very familiar with how you get patients ready for treatment, whether that be surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

"I developed my own 'prehabilitation' plan that was tailored to me, which not only involved exercise, but it also involved looking at a spectrum of elements that I could adapt that would help make my treatment as effective as possible.

"That included reducing stress as much as much as I possibly could, ensuring that I had a healthy diet, and then exercise being paramount to to my training plan."

As well as running outdoors, Dr Burke has been training at the OTE Performance Centre and Altitude Chamber in Leeds.

Her work at the University of Leeds, which has been supported by funders including Macmillan, Yorkshire Cancer Research and Cancer Research UK, have shown that people should keep as active as possible before and during treatment to aid recovery.

The Tenzing Hillary Everest Marathon is an annual race which starts at Everest Base Camp and finishes in the town of Namche Bazaar.

It is held on 29 May to celebrate the Everest ascent by Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Sir Edmund Hillary on the same date in 1953.

Dr Burke is due to travel to Nepal on 15 May, as before the marathon she is to complete a 6,119 metre (20,075ft) climb of Lobuche Peak.

The peak is a separate challenge within the Everest region, which requires technical climbing skills and high-altitude acclimatisation - something she hopes will help prepare her for the marathon.

Dr Burke has so far raised more than £7,000 for cancer charity Macmillan, which helped her during her treatment at Airedale Hospital and St James' Hospital in Leeds.

Lisa Martin, relationship fundraising lead for Macmillan, said: "This is a monumental challenge and we are behind Shaunna all the way.

"We are so grateful that she has decided to donate the money raised to Macmillan, as whatever she raises will go a long way in providing vital support for people living with cancer.

"Shaunna is so dedicated to this challenge and wish her all the very best of luck. Shaunna – thank you so much for supporting Macmillan."

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