A Hampshire man has transformed personal tragedy into a powerful force for good, hiking marathon distances to raise more than £21,000 for cancer support after losing both his father and sister to the illness.

Richard Martin, a 69-year-old retired financial services professional from Hythe, has completed 13 Mighty Hikes across the UK, with each step dedicated to their memory.

Mr Martin’s father, Alan Martin, died from lung cancer at 62 in 1998, followed by his sister, Teresa Godwin, who succumbed to a breast cancer relapse at 56 in 2008.

These profound losses spurred him to become a "lead volunteer" for Macmillan Cancer Support, organising supermarket collections and offering weekly phone support as a "buddy" to those living with cancer. He says his father and sister are "at the forefront" of his mind "every time" he crosses a finishing line.

During the hikes, Mr Martin pins notes to his rucksack stating he is walking for his family.

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“Especially when I’ve done a solo walk, that has sparked conversation," he told PA Real Life. "That’s the thing I love about Mighty Hikes – you’ll share with people why you’re doing it and that’s something really special."

He recalled a moment on the South Coast Mighty Hike where, after almost an hour alone, he encountered two people and shared his sister’s story with one who had lost his wife to cancer, finding it "heart-warming".

Reflecting on his father’s illness, Mr Martin described how Alan had recovered well from a heart attack in his mid-50s, getting "fit and lost weight".

However, in his early 60s, a "dry cough" prompted Alan’s wife, Dawn Martin, to encourage him to seek medical advice, leading to a lung cancer diagnosis.

Alan initially "decided to keep it quiet" from his children, including Richard, Teresa, and his two younger brothers, David and Tim, with the family only learning the news at Christmas in 1996.

"At that stage, he was still fairly optimistic about treatment working," Mr Martin recalled.

Despite chemotherapy and radiotherapy, the cancer spread. A week before Alan’s death in 1998, Richard visited him, regretting: "I probably didn’t say things I wanted to say."

He added: "We knew the situation by then, and it’s that kind of helplessness that actually helped me decide to go down the path of supporting Macmillan. I need people to have a better experience than our family had."

Within a few years, his "amazing" sister Teresa was diagnosed with breast cancer, undergoing a mastectomy and experiencing a "reasonable period of remission".

By 2008, the cancer returned in her lymph nodes and "spread very quickly" to other parts of her body.

Mr Martin recounted visiting her in hospital when her brother-in-law knew the end was near: "Although she was out of it, I sat with her for an hour and we had time. I had a little bit more strength this time. So I told her what a good sister she’d been and that I was going to miss her. It was a better farewell than I had with my dad," he said.

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After "a couple" of years processing both deaths, Mr Martin felt ready to "go out there and do something".

A corporate partnership at his work led him to a Macmillan fundraising manager, and he began by volunteering at a Christmas present-wrapping event at a Southampton shopping centre.

This progressed to charity walks with colleagues, culminating in his first "challenging" 22-mile Jurassic Coast Mighty Hike with friend Ewan Bell, traversing the hilly terrain from Weymouth to Corfe Castle.

He recalled a calf injury at mile 16: "It was a misty day and quite cold, but the abiding memory is that, if it hadn’t been for my walking partner, Ewan, I probably wouldn’t have finished because around mile 16, I got a twinge in my right calf.

“He very kindly carried my rucksack for most of the remaining time. Without his encouragement and a bit of paracetamol given to me at one of the checkpoints, I don’t think I would have made it to the end of my first Mighty Hike."

Crossing the finish line "felt really special”, he added, noting the difficulty in describing the feeling, "especially because I was doing it for Macmillan."

Since then, Mr Martin has completed 12 more Mighty Hikes, often with Ewan, across diverse locations including the South Coast in Brighton, the Gower Peninsula in Swansea, the Rob Roy in the Scottish town of Callander, the Lake District, the Peak District, the Yorkshire Dales, the Norfolk Coast, and the Thames Path in Windsor.

He typically completes the 26-mile routes in up to eight hours, though one particularly arduous hike took him 13 hours due to "the biggest blister" of his life.

His training philosophy is simple: "I don’t want to sound conceited but I’m a walker. I’m just constantly training because I’m just always walking."

He hopes to reach 20 hikes in total, expressing a desire to never stop walking and raising money for charity.

To date, Mr Martin has raised £21,174.72 for Macmillan, expressing pride in his contribution.

"I don’t see it as a big deal. I want to do it and I’m pleased I’ve raised that much," he stated.

Macmillan highlights that £161 can provide emotional support to one person living with cancer for around eight weeks through their buddy system, while £1,437 could fund a Macmillan nurse for a week.

Mr Martin hopes his story will inspire others: "There might be 1,000 people on a Mighty Hike and they’re all like-minded people. And that just happens so rarely – to be with that many people who have the same aims as you do.

“So if I can inspire just five more people, then it would have been worthwhile. And if it spreads the word and it helps to raise more money, then that’s going to get a huge thumbs up for me."

For more information about Macmillan’s Mighty Hikes, visit their website: https://www.macmillan.org.uk/mighty-hikes

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