Information Services

ISG staff member Stevie Allison completes mighty marathon hike for Macmillan Cancer Support

An intrepid member of ISG’s Service Management team has taken on a mammoth hiking challenge to raise money to support people battling cancer.

Stevie Allison, Service Operations Coordinator, with family and friends after completing Macmillan Cancer Support Rob Roy Mighty Hike
Stevie Allison, Service Operations Coordinator, with family and friends after completing Macmillan Cancer Support Rob Roy Mighty Hike

Stevie Allison, Service Operations Coordinator at the University of Edinburgh’s Information Services department (ISG), took part in the Rob Roy Marathon Mighty Hike earlier this month to fundraise for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Teaming up with his wife, god-daughter and other family members and friends, Stevie completed the 26 miles distance along the stretch of the Rob Roy Way near Callander in an incredible 9 hours and 1.5 minutes.

Taking in some tough, challenging but beautiful terrain, the Rob Roy Way footpath spans between Drymen in Stirling and Pitlochry in Perth and Kinross and is named after the 18th century Scottish folk hero and outlaw Rob Roy MacGregor.

So far Stevie has raised almost £500, nearly double his original target.

Stevie said: “Most of us have been affected by cancer in some way or another and we all wanted to do this to help raise funds.

“It rained most of the day but meeting lots of people with stories about why they were doing it was inspiring.

“The reason I did it was because I was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2015 and luckily for me the cancer was contained in my kidney and had it removed and that was the end of it.

“At the time it was very stressful for me, and my wife and we both received support from Macmillan which helped me through it. They also were there when my dad had lung cancer.

“I can thankfully say I am free of cancer now and thought it was the right thing to help support them as they do a great job and deserve a lot of credit for that.

“I had done lots of training, so knew I could do it, but I still ached for days after it. The sense of pride and achievement walking over the finish line was amazing. I have already applied to do it again next year.

“I would like to thank everyone in the University who has contributed to this great cause.”

To make a donation to Stevie’s fundraiser visit his Just Giving page here: justgiving.com/fundraising/stevieallison