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Author Emma Christie hiking 150km to Harrogate Crime Writing Festival for cancer research
Scottish author Emma Christie will hike 150km in a week to travel to Harrogate’s Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, raising money for cancer research.
The Barcelona-based Scot, author of four psychological thrillers set in Edinburgh, will raise funds for the Brain Tumour Charity and Pancreatic Cancer Research. She will hike alongside her partner Maria Jose Fernandez Hidalgo, whose brother Juan died of pancreatic cancer shortly after diagnosis. Christie said she was also motivated to raise money for charity because she has a niece and nephew, both teenagers, who have inoperable brain tumours.
Christie has created the challenge with her partner, dubbed "The Big Hike to Harrogate". They will walk 146km along the Dales Way, in reverse, beginning in Windermere in the Lake District and crossing the Yorkshire Dales, and then walking a few more kilometres to the town of Harrogate, just in time to appear at its famous crime writing festival on 19th July. Christie will also host an "author dinner" at the renowned festival, two days after the charity hike ends.
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Christie said the couple are keen hikers but neither has walked such a long distance in so short a timeframe. She said: "It’s going to be a really big challenge to cover that kind of ground every day but we’re really excited to take it on. And if we suffer a wee bit, so be it. It’s nothing compared to the situations faced every day by people living with cancer."
She added: "When my niece and nephew received their diagnosis – several years apart – it was obviously a huge blow to the entire family. And we went through that same shock and sense of helplessness when Mari’s brother was given a few weeks to live. By taking on this challenge, we hope to help raise money for two hugely worthwhile charities so they can continue to research and to support families living with these diseases. It feels good to be able to do something."
Follow their progress during the hike on Facebook and Instagram via theemmachristie.
The pair have set up separate Just Giving pages, one dedicated to Pancreatic Cancer UK and one to the Brain Tumour Charity.
