The Big Strong Lasses to take on the Yorkshire Marathon Relay

This year’s relay marathon will include two teams from the Big Strong Lasses – a community of women who weight train together, on zoom, after a diagnosis of breast cancer. It was set up by Carolyn Garritt, a personal trainer specialising in working in cancer rehabilitation who was diagnosed with breast cancer herself during the covid lockdown. ‘I knew that I’d recover best if I made sure I did weight training three times a week, so I changed my work schedule and started teaching weights online, sharing my own rehab with others in the same boat’.

The Big Strong Lasses rarely get to meet in real life but have been training together online since 2022. Some of them also are part of 5k Your Way, the brilliant initiative that links cancer patients with designated parkruns on the last Saturday of every month. In February this year they went further, and tackled 10km in the London Winter Run. The Yorkshire Marathon will be their first relay event, and they can’t wait. Fiona, who will run the last leg of one team said: ‘I’m taking part because I was so jealous of the excitement around the Winter Run and I felt I wanted to be part of that comradery, even if that meant doing some running’. Fiona is a regular parkwalker and is now following a couch to 5k programme as her first foray into running.

It's well known that exercising after a cancer diagnosis helps in many ways: it can help reduce the risk of the cancer returning and can help manage the myriad side effects from treatment. Training together as a group is proving a winning formula for the Big Strong Lasses: Karen, who has gone from a non-runner to half marathon since her cancer, said ‘The support and understanding that comes from doing this with women who have all had breast cancer is priceless.’

The Yorkshire marathon takes place during October, which is also breast cancer awareness month. Perhaps surprisingly, it can be a difficult month for those who’ve already had a diagnosis – as Carolyn says: ‘October can mean that breast cancer seems inescapable. It can be triggering and complex for many people affected by all types of cancer. We are chuffed to be doing something so positive and vibrant together, especially during October’.

There are Big Strong Lasses in the US, Canada, Ireland and France as well as the UK, and the relay teams are travelling from Wales, Devon, London and the Home Counties as well as Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire. Four of them are Yorkshire Lasses. The race weekend will be the first time they’ve all met in real life.

If you’d like to start exercising after a cancer diagnosis, there are free films, including the Big Strong Lasses basic weights routine, @carolyngarritt on YouTube.

Entries are still open for the 2-24 Yorkshire Marathon Relay, taking place on Sunday 20th October. 

The Yorkshire Marathon Relay, a huge popular edition of the Yorkshire Marathon Festival will see teams of six battle it out to claim the bragging rights of being the fastest team in the race. Participants get their marathon fix and medal by joining five of your friends or colleagues to each take on a leg of the marathon course!

Enjoyed by co-workers, friends and families alike, this is a great way to enjoy the Yorkshire Marathon without having to take on the full 26.2 miles. Teams of six will take on the beautiful and ancient streets of York in a battle to claim the bragging rights of being the fastest team in the race.

Teams will be looking to achieve their team’s fundraising goals, or simply enjoy a bit of healthy competition and with Distances varying within the relay, it makes the relay both fun and accessible for participants of all abilities.

The race is on for 2024! Will your relay team be the quickest to cross the line?

To find out more and sign up your team, click here