In the summer of 1994 a new charity event arrived which changed the fundraising landscape in the UK for ever.

While that event, and the many that have since copied it, has gone from strength to strength, the charity it was created to support has whitewashed the person who came up with the idea, and who launched the event, from its history.

While the Race for Life has gone on to raise nearly £1 Billion for Cancer Research UK, those who run the charity have constructed a range of different stories about its origins.

The Race for Life has raised over £1/2 Billion for Cancer Research UK

Staff who worked at the charity (then known as the Imperial Cancer Research Fund) have built careers claiming the idea as theirs, supported by the charity. Current staff are told the event’s origins were in the United States. In between it was credited to another, different charity.

The reality?

The event was devised by Jim Cowan in 1993 following his own father’s cancer diagnosis.

Cancer Research UK might tell you differently but that is the truth.

The Race for Life was created by Jim Cowan

This website sets out to correct that injustice of the last quarter century, and ensure Jim receives the recognition and credit he deserves; credit for creating an event that has become the nation’s biggest charity fundraising event and has been mimicked by too many other charities to list, collectively raising far in excess of £1 Billion.

This website won’t just make empty claims on Jim’s behalf, it will share evidence to support the facts. We will share the correct history of the events beginnings and why it is the distance it is, why it is women only, and more. It will also share other facts directly relating to Cancer Research UK and the way the charity is run.

We ask that all right-thinking people, to support us in supporting Jim Cowan and help him to receive the credit he deserves. Share the articles we will post on this site via social media and help us raise awareness of, and credit for, one of the most significant individuals in fundraising in the UK in the last century and this: Jim Cowan.