Andrews Story: Running a Half Marathon in Memory of Tansy

Andrew took on the Valencia Half Marathon last month raising money for Make 2nds Count in memory of his friend and our Community Ambassador, Tansy. He tells us why he is doing this challenge.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

My name is Andrew Clark, I’m 35 years old, living in Edinburgh. I work as a Programme Manager in the NHS for the Sexual Assault Response Coordination Services (more commonly known as SARCS) Network. SARCS work with health boards across Scotland to support the delivery of coordinated healthcare and forensic medical services, for people who have experienced rape, sexual assault, or child sexual abuse. Outside the office I enjoy my sports, regularly playing football, basketball and going cycling. I’m also a big foodie, music junkie and a self-confessed coffee snob!

Can you tell me what challenge you are taking on/have taken part in and why you have decided to support Make 2nds Count?

On October 26 2025 I took part in the Valencia Half Marathon in support of Make 2nds
Count, specifically in memory of a dear friend of mine (and to many), Tansy Main. I worked closely with Tansy due to her role as the lead of the SARCS Policy Unit at Scottish Government. From that, we formed a great friendship – something that she seemed to do with ease with everybody that she met.

Tragically, we lost Tansy to secondary breast cancer in June of this year, after an utterly
heroic fight against the disease, first diagnosed in 2021. I had already signed up to run the Valencia Half Marathon, as I am currently in the middle of attempting to complete the Super Halfs Series, a selection of half marathons across Europe (Valencia is number 3 of 6!). When Tansy passed, I felt that this run could serve a much higher purpose as an opportunity to raise funds and awareness for a charity that not only supported Tansy throughout her diagnosis, but one that she held very closely to her heart.

As much as I and so many others miss Tansy every day, it was a privilege to be able to run
in her honour and on behalf of her family, friends and colleagues and everybody associated with secondary breast cancer.

How did you find the event? 

Tansy and I had many conversations about how I found running a “necessary evil”. Truth be
told, I was only doing the Super Halfs Series as an excuse to eat whatever I wanted after
every training run – and I still stand by that!

Typically, and despite the baking hot weather before and after the event, I managed to bring the Scottish weather with me for the run itself – it tipped it down! But knowing that Tansy would be up there cheering me on, and on the back of the utterly incredible generosity of everybody who donated to Make 2nds Count, I went full gas and gave it my all.

Valencia is a beautiful city, with the route winding through many famous landmarks – not that I saw many of them, given that I was trying to wipe equal amounts of sweat and rain away from my eyes half the time! So many people came out to cheer the runners on, despite the weather. It was an incredible experience and really spurred me on in the final kilometres.

I had set myself the target of breaking the 2-hour barrier for this run and I was delighted to
cross the line in 1 hour and 57 minutes. More than worth every minute of suffering in training to get my hands on the biggest paella I could find after the race!

Why do you think it is important to have a charity dedicated to secondary breast
cancer only?

Before I met Tansy, I counted myself as someone who was oblivious to the fact that
secondary breast cancer is incurable – and thought that it was “just another one of those
cancers that you can beat”. My understanding of the disease has grown so much, thanks to
the incredible honesty and bravery that Tansy always gave when talking about her diagnosis.

However, I know that awareness of secondary breast cancer is still pretty low in the public
domain. I cannot begin to imagine what people who are diagnosed with this disease are
going through. Anything we can do to support awareness, recognition and treatment can
only be a good thing. Having an organisation like Make 2nds Count is so important to ensure that anybody affected have support, camaraderie, access to research and, most importantly, hope for the future.

Is there anything else you would like us to include?

I honestly cannot thank everyone who has so kindly donated to this run enough. I am so
aware of how tough times are financially for so many people, so it was pretty overwhelming to be able to raise £1,140 for such an important cause. I am so humbled and grateful to each and every one of you fundraising legends!

I also want to give a special thanks to Tansy’s husband, Craig, and her children, Ella and
Freya, as well as all of Tansy’s family and friends, for giving their blessing in allowing me to
run this race for Tansy and for their unbelievably kind support. Craig even joined me on a
few training runs, during which we put the world to rights as best we could, which I have
really treasured and we have endeavoured to continue.

Finally, I couldn’t sign off without thanking my wonderful girlfriend, Catherine, who first came up with the idea of running the Valencia Half Marathon in Tansy’s honour. Her support and encouragement, not only throughout training but when processing Tansy’s passing, making sure I get out to run on days when I was struggling, and being there for me at every finish line, has been amazing. She also makes the most hype playlists you could hope for when out running – an absolute godsend!