York supermarket staff complete Race For Life – inside the store

Staff at a York supermarket have gone the extra mile to raise £1,200 for Cancer Research UK by staging the Race for Life – in the store.

After Race for Life events were cancelled due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the Tadcaster Road Tesco staff decided to organise a series of socially distanced in-store fundraisers.

Many of the store’s staff take part in the Race For Life each year, including store manager Ben Marriman, who took part last year when the event first allowed men to participate. 

So, in a bid to continue the Race for Life spirit, the store’s staff set a personal goal of smashing a series of indoor 5km virtual races, amounting to 70km travelled across the weekend.

Using a treadmill lent to them by Energise in Acomb, each in-store department took turns manning the machine to put in the steps to meet the goal. 

Tesco shoppers were then encouraged to support the in-store virtual Race for Life by making donations to the walking workers.

The store’s community champion Caroline MacDonald said: “Not only did our fundraising efforts amount to a fantastic £1,200 for the Race for Life charity, but we were also able to connect with our local customers on a topic that is very close to our hearts.

“There are a lot of customers in our community who have been affected by Cancer, a lot of whom spoke in depth with us over the weekend about close ones who have struggled with the disease.”