A charity boss wants to help cure cancer by running more than 120 miles in 10 days.

James McLaughlin, Cure Leukaemia chief executive, is running eight miles around each of the 15 Trials Acceleration Programme Centres doing two a day on some days.

The 49-year-old arrived in Glasgow this week, to race around the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre with two doctors, Nick Heaney and Steve Leak.

The big-hearted CEO hopes his efforts will raise £25k this year to fund vital treatment and research into blood cancer, which one person in the UK is diagnosed with every 14 minutes.

Glasgow Times: James McLaughlin wants to lead from the front by setting an example himself.James McLaughlin wants to lead from the front by setting an example himself. (Image: Sourced)

He told the Glasgow Times: “I was joined by two Glasgow doctors when running in the city this morning, they were very quick so we finished nine miles in just over an hour.

“I decided to do the 15 runs in just 10 days to make it a real challenge for myself to encourage more donations and raise awareness.

“I have sadly had close friends affected by blood cancer and I just want to help others battling the illness.

“Being the Chief Executive I like to lead from the front, so getting involved for the patients has always been very important to me.”

James completes an annual Tour of the Trials Acceleration Programme (TAP) in September to raise funds for Blood Cancer Awareness Month.

The Tap is a network of specialist research nurses at 15 blood cancer centres located in the UK’s biggest cities and recently expanded to 15 centres.

It means this year is James’ biggest challenge yet as he darts around Britain completing the gruelling sprints, sometimes twice in one day.

The feat will see him run over 120 miles in just ten days with no rest days in between.

He has raised over £75,000 over the past three years to help fund the charity’s TAP Network and he is aiming to bring his combined fundraising total for the event to over £100,000.

Cure Leukaemia Research Nurses across the UK allow clinical trials to run, giving patients from a catchment area of over 30 million people access to potentially life-saving treatments not currently available through standard care.

James said: “Across September, over 400 people will be diagnosed with a form of blood cancer, so this highlights how much work is still needed to be done to help find a cure for this terrible illness.

“All donations will make a huge difference to helping us pass the £100,000 from the event over the past three years, but raise vital funds for our Trial Acceleration Programme.

“With the support of the wider community, we can expand our Trials Acceleration Programme (TAP) network of Research Nurses, who perform lifesaving work for blood cancer patients throughout the city of Glasgow and wider area. "