A WIDOW undergoing cancer treatment is running from Bournemouth to Poole Hospital in the hope of raising £1,000 for charity.

Marbellys Bayne-Azcarate, 44, from Oakdale will pounding the pavements from Bournemouth Hospital to Poole Hospital for 10 miles on Thursday, November 10 at 11am in honour of NET Cancer Day after being diagnosed with Neuroendocrine cancer.

The mum-of-three is also taking on the challenge, dressed in bright zebra print clothing, in honour of her husband, Michael, who died in January after a battle with bowel cancer.

Marbellys said that she has already raised £600 towards her fundraising total, with money set to go to Poole Hospital Charity, NET Patient Foundation and PLANETS Charity.

She said: "I had major surgery in May, where I was hospital for 10 days. I asked the doctor when I could go back to running and he said 'In about six months.'

"I started running after nine weeks, as I felt like I was going mad without it, and I thought that after three months I could do more than three miles.

"I have monthly injections to control the cancer and for two weeks of every month I am good for nothing. But when I am well, I run because I feel better in my head, but I can't do it all the time. I do it to keep fit, to de-stress and for a bit of time for myself.

"I am not trying to be a hero. I just want to raise awareness of Neuroendocrine cancer because it took me so long to be diagnosed."

Marbellys said that before being diagnosed, she felt like she was being 'fobbed off' by some GPs and doctors, who suggested that she may be going through the menopause or she may have high blood pressure, when she said that she knew it was something more serious.

"Then, since diagnosis, I have had surgery to remove 22 of the 24 tumours in my liver as well as in my small intestine and lymph nodes."

She thanked Mark Southern, a NET specialist nurse working at The Dorset Cancer Centre who administers her cancer treatment each month while supporting her through whatever issues she faces.

Marbellys said that after the death of husband, Michael, from cancer, she was 'a roller coaster of emotions.' She added that nobody should believe the stigma that cancer only affects older people and will not affect people who exercise regularly because both herself and her late husband had always had an interest in fitness.

For more information, go to Justgiving.com/teams/10MilesForNETs