A doctor is getting ready to take on the London Marathon for a charity close to his heart.
Graham McLean, who works at Solway Medical Group in Kirkcudbright and Gatehouse, will take on the famous 26.2 mile race in October.
And in the process he is hoping to raise thousands of pounds for Cancer Research UK.
Graham, who lives in Borgue, said: “My wife had breast cancer four years ago, which she has survived, but last year she was diagnosed with blood cancer. It’s not going to go away but can hopefully be kept under control.
“My brother has had two cancers, my mother died of pancreatic cancer and being a GP I’m very aware of how important early diagnosis and management of cancer is.”
Graham, who is 63, has run on and off during his life and started again when Kirkcudbright Running Club began in 2014.
He took on his first marathon in Brighton last year and enjoys running around the Stewartry.
He said: “I try to go Monday and Thursday with the club and we also have a Saturday morning breakfast club which is slightly more casual and alternates between Gatehouse and Kirkcudbright.
“We’re very spoiled here that we’ve got lots of nice roads and tracks to run on.
“Through lockdown it was great having support from fellow runners - when we couldn’t run together we were posting pictures of where we had run and challenges to keep us going.
“As a GP a lot of my patients know that I run and I try to encourage people to be as active as possible for health reasons and hope they see that I don’t just talk about it but do it.
“There’s quite a few GPs in the area who run.”
As part of Graham’s fundraising, there will be a vintage afternoon tea at Kirkcudbright Bowling Club this Saturday.
Tickets are available from Kirkcudbright health centre and the town’s pharmacies.
They cost £6 and can be upgraded for a further £5 to include two glasses of Prosecco.
If you’d like to sponsor Graham, you can do so at https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/graham-mcleans-london-marathon
