TEN years after the first Lisa Lowe Charity walk in aid of Manx Cancer Help, those who took part are being challenged to have another go.
MCH chairman Steph Lowe, who was married to Lisa, said: 'Lisa was diagnosed terminally ill with cancer at the beginning of 1997 and Eve Berridge, the principal at MCH, was very supportive and a great help to her at the time.
'She wanted to put so
mething back and we decided that we'd do a sponsored walk and we did - big style. It was very good.'
That walk, along the Millennium Way, attracted 900 people and raised £70,000 for MCH.
'Everyone seemed to get caught in the spirit of it,' said Steph.
'She was a young woman, people thought "God, that could've been me". It just struck a chord with people.'
Lisa died in November 1997. Over the next four years, her walk was held annually in aid of MCH and other cancer charities.
'Over the five years the walk probably raised around £100,000,' said Steph.
To mark the 10th anniversary of the walk and of Lisa's death, Steph and MCH decided to bring the 27-mile challenge back.
'We wanted to raise awareness of Manx Cancer Help, it's still going strong,' said Steph and urged people to sign up. 'If you have never done it before the views are just stunning.'
The walk will be held on May 6, starting at 8am at Sky Hill, in Ramsey, and ending at Castle Rushen, Castletown.
The complete route is 27 miles and you can walk, cycle or run part or all of the way.
People can join in at The Crosby Hotel at 1pm and walk 10 miles instead. Organisers are asking all participants to ask for sponsorship to cover the distance they intend to travel.
'Approximately 900 people took part 10 years ago and we really hope that we can match or even exceed that number this time, hopefully with many of the original participants taking part again if they still have the stamina!' said an MCH spokesman.
'Either do the walk individually or form a team of family, friends, club or work colleagues. The more the merrier and, of course, have a brilliant day out while raising valuable funds to help us continue our important work supporting those living with a diagnosis of cancer, their families and friends.
'This has the potential to be a really great fun day out and we would love to see you there.'
For further information and sponsorship forms, email
manxcancerhelp@manx.net or call 679544.
