Northern Ireland man attempting world record for Macmillan Cancer Support

Alan, from Belfast, is due to complete his second London challenge on Sunday, April 3. He raised more than £17,000 doing the run in 2021, and has just topped the London Landmarks 2022 fundraising leader-board with a running total of over £13,500.

Alan is running in memory of his parents – his dad, also named Alan, whom he lost in 2012, and his mum, Helen, who sadly passed away recently. He said it’s these difficult experiences that inspired him to run for Macmillan, the charity that supported his family through difficult times.

“My family and I have had much-needed help from Macmillan in recent years. I wanted to do my bit to help others so I signed up for the London Landmarks half-marathon for the first time last year and booked charity collection days to fundraise. Lots of things stopped in the last two years because of Covid, but Macmillan never stops – the charity is always there, helping people like my family.”

Alan has been collecting at local shops, centres, and service stations in and around Belfast in costumes ranging from Spiderman and Iron Man, to Winnie the Pooh and the Grinch. It was the success of his costumes that have led to an additional challenge on Sunday when he is attempting to set a world record by running the quickest half-marathon dressed as a gorilla!

“Dressing up for my collection days has been a lot of fun. People are very generous when I’m standing with my Macmillan bucket, and it’s great to do something that makes people laugh and smile. When I raised so much last year, I knew that I wanted to keep running for Macmillan and booked myself onto Sunday’s event as soon I could. To have a combined total of over £30,000 is fantastic and I want to say a huge thank you to my friends, family, neighbours and all the people who have donated. I may dress up in the costumes but you’re the super heroes!”

Nearly all (98%) of Macmillan’s funding comes directly from donations, so challenges like Alan’s have never been more important to ensure that Macmillan can continue to help people living with cancer all over Northern Ireland.

Maria Small, Macmillan in NI, said Alan puts the fun into fundraising: “Alan has raised an incredible amount to help the 82,000 people living with cancer in Northern Ireland and he has done it with a huge smile on his face. His incredible fundraising to date could support 85 people with a Macmillan Grant. We wish him all the very best on Sunday.”

*To donate vist: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/alan-harris17