Three friends in the pink with charity walk

Three energetic friends from West Devon took part in the annual charity long distance St Luke’s Midnight Walk.

This year there were 1,260 people taking part across the routes including men, women and children. There were four sponsored routes to take part in, 2.5, 5, 7.5 or 13.5 miles, all beginning and ending at Plymouth Argyle’s Home Park stadium.

Dressed in pink for the occasion Dotty King, of Bere Alston, who has herself survived cancer, took on the 13.5-mile route with friends Denise Bettey, who lives near Yelverton, and Emma Williams.

Dotty, a Tavistock shopkeeper, said: “It was a very hot evening and even though the start time was 8pm, the temperature remained hot and humid for the duration of the night.

“We made our way through Central Park into the city and along Plymouth Hoe, before heading out towards the Embankment, and circling back via the Derriford roundabout... including over three miles of continuous hills.

“We maintained a steady pace and although very much not a race, we finished in under four hours, at midnight.

“The Midnight Walk is an opportunity to support and honour all those affected by cancer and many of the T-shirts carried emotional messages. It is a truly lovely event bringing people together from all walks of life to celebrate and or remember those affected by cancer.”

She said she was partly motivated by her own expereience of surviving cancer: “I think every 'survivor' wants to give something back and I am grateful to be fit and healthy enough to take part where others are not so lucky. I lost my beloved Nana to cancer and a number of friends over the years, thinking of them pushes me on every day.”