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The Cancer Patients Were Totally ‘Bossing It’!

100 is a great big number. It can be a milestone, an achievement, something worth marking – or all of the above. Belfast 5k Your Way ambassador Ann McBrien, who’s living with stage 4 breast cancer, decided that her 100th cancer treatment was most definitely a great big number. Here’s her story…

“I’m not one for much fuss to be honest but I thought that my 100th treatment for stage 4 cancer was worth marking. I felt that it was a good opportunity to show that you can live with cancer and you can live well while you’re on cancer treatment. Picking up on the 5k theme of 5k Your Way I decided to run 100k between January and March this year, ahead of my 100th cancer treatment in April. I then asked other cancer patients if they’d like to come on board and do 100 movements their way over the course of the three months and before I knew it, the idea had grown and grown! I called it #100YourWay. Cancer patients, their families and friends from all across Northern Ireland were joining in and then people from the Republic of Ireland said they’d take up the challenge too! I had people do incredible things in Australia and South America. I’m involved as a volunteer with cancer research and do cancer improvement work and many busy doctors, nurses, researchers and scientists joined in too. Everyone was doing it their way which is very much the spirit of 5k Your Way.

My aim was to complete my 100k challenge by the end of March and have a big celebration on 5k Your Way day on the 29th. With 95k complete, it was time to do the final 5k! That morning there were 717 people at Ormeau Parkrun, at least 260 of whom were people I knew and who had turned up to see me complete my #100YourWay. There was a big shout out for me by the run director and such a buzz in the park. My oncologist, Dr Crawford, who is a fellow 5k Your Way ambassador, gave a little speech beforehand which meant the world to me. My cancer life is a joint project with him – he’s keeping me alive with targeted cancer treatments and helping manage my side effects and I’m playing my part by keeping active, making the most of the life I have and supporting other patients through my advocacy work. 5k Your Way allows other patients to see this positive patient-doctor interaction and encourages them to take an active role in their care alongside their oncologist.

Back to the big day! Cancer patients and those who don’t have cancer were all running and walking together which was so lovely to see. The cancer patients were totally ‘bossing it’ – we were definitely seen and heard! My family lives two hours away and travelled on that day to support me. My 89-year-old Mum, who has been diagnosed with cancer twice, took part proudly wearing her 5k Your Way hoodie. Friends from my childhood made the long journey to be in Belfast for 9am. Runners from my running club Ormeau Runners came and ran alongside me. Family members who couldn’t be in Belfast ran in different parts of the country and sent me pictures. It was such a celebration of love and life.

One of the parkrun runners commented on Ormeau parkrun social media: “I felt like there was some famous Olympic runner in attendance. All I heard was people talking about this Ann lady. How cool is it to inspire so many people to come out and join parkrun plus the numerous other charity activities I now know she is involved with”. This comment from a complete stranger was so special for me to read.

People kept coming up to me on the day for a chat and since then I’ve had numerous messages saying how positive the #100YourWay initiative has been. It was amazing to create something to bring patients, family, friends, clinicians, researchers and charities together in a positive way. I’m all about wanting to promote the good things in cancer care in Northern Ireland, the ongoing improvements, the great research, the amazing work that countless charities do – and, of course, the importance of movement. As patients we are a key part of that network, we have a powerful and positive contribution to make.

At the December 5k Your Way meetup I met a lovely man, Brian, who had recently been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He walked around the course with me. He was understandably shaken by his recent diagnosis and anxious about the impacts of chemotherapy which were starting in the New Year. I chatted to him about the reality of living with cancer and also the positive things we can do to manage side effects and the mental health impacts, like movement. I mentioned my 100k challenge and he ended up doing it too, despite the impacts of chemotherapy. In fact, he walked 100k in January alone and he got his whole family to come on board with the idea. His son and partner climbed Mount Errigal in the snow as part of the #100 Your Way challenge! I was so pleased to see Brian and his family on that celebratory day last month – we were all celebrating life together.

I’ve had a busy few months with the #100YourWay challenge, the publication of research I’m involved in which sets Northern Ireland amongst the best in the world for data on stage 4 breast cancer, presenting at Northern Ireland Parliament at Stormont and I also met the King! I now need a bit of a breather to reflect and re-energise. Of course, I’ll still be very much involved in 5k Your Way and we are currently organising our 3rd anniversary in April, so maybe not much of a breather for me! Volunteering as a 5KYW ambassador with the Belfast group has been incredibly important to me. They are a fabulous team and I feel very supported and loved by them. They made the #100YourWay the huge success that it was.  Looking further afield I’ve made amazing connections with other 5k Your Way ambassadors across the UK, both on-line and in person. We all ‘get it’ and feel part of a worthwhile movement that is doing good.

As I approach my 100th treatment I can reflect on my wonderful #100YourWay. It wasn’t just a personal challenge for me, it was a chance to raise awareness of living with cancer, of the importance of movement, of all the good work in cancer care, the great research going on AND it was a way of connecting with others who wanted to get involved in the challenge too. I could never have imagined it would grow and spread and then become such a personal and public joy!”