Newspaper staff from Archant Scotland donned their running shoes to help raise money for a new cancer unit in Glasgow.

Managing director Neville Keithley, Lanarkshire Extra editor Martin Clark and Glasgow Extra editor Allan Hodge, all volunteered to take part in Macmillan Cancer Relief’s ‘Run the Road’ fundraiser, together with colleagues from the Ayr, Glasgow and Motherwell offices.

And after completing the race along the new Glasgow Southern Orbital bypass that links East Kilbride with the upgraded M77, the team collected medals for their efforts.

They joined almost 10,000 fundraisers for the event, including celebrities such as athlete Steve Cram and curling champion Rhona Martin, helping to raise around £250,000 which will be used to help create a state-of-the-art chemotherapy centre at Gartnavel Hospital in Glasgow.

The Archant team

The Extra has been involved in fundraising from the outset, launching an appeal in conjunction with Macmillan in June 2004, aimed at raising £2m.

Editor Martin Clark said: “All the cash raised on the day will go towards our campaign and we have a number of other events in the pipeline for later in the year, which will further boost our fundraising and hopefully exceed our target.

“Personally, I would like to thank all those who dug deep to sponsor me for the event as well as our army of generous readers who, right from the beginning, have shown their willingness to support this appeal.”

The revolutionary centre, which is expected to take two years to build, will offer unparalleled treatment and care for cancer patients throughout west central Scotland.