Bromsgrove teacher raises almost £2 million to beat cancer

Guinness World Record holder Gill Punt BEM recently completed the prestigious Athens marathon as part of her ongoing efforts to help beat cancer. 

Ms Punt, who is head of PE at South Bromsgrove High School, has been fundraising for more than 26 years with her recent efforts helping to raise £16,000 for Cancer Research UK. 

This has taken Ms Punt's fundraising total over the years to more than £1.94 million. 

The mum-of-three said: "My fundraising adventures began in memory of my father who died of bile duct cancer in 1999. 

"Ever since, I have been dedicated to raising funds and awareness for cancer charities.

"I will continue my voluntary fundraising endeavours until we reach the ultimate finish line - a world without cancer." 

The Athens Marathon is a 26.2-mile race that follows the original course of the ancient marathon from the town of Marathon to the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, Greece. 

The route is considered one of the most difficult major marathons and is based on the legendary story of Pheidippides, the messenger who ran from the Battle of Marathon to Athens to announce Greek victory. 

Ms Punt described the run as "desperately hot, hilly, hard but incredible and bizarrely very fast". 

Gill Punt was interviewed by Greek media at the finish line (Image: Handout) She was also interviewed at the finish line in the Panathenaic Olympic Stadium to give CRUK some great publicity. 

Ms Punt added: "One in two of us will get cancer in our lifetime. The number of cases is rising so it has never been more urgent to beat cancer. 

"This means funding the brilliant researchers to make more discoveries and harnessing those discoveries to drive progress in prevention, tests and treatments. 

"This is why I do all I can on an unpaid, voluntary basis." 

To donate to Gill's fundraiser visit https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/gills-giving-page-1424