A Macclesfield dental worker has teamed up with her personal trainer for an epic charity bikeathon to raise money for a rare cancer.

Dental therapist Sarah Smith (31) sadly lost two friends to cholangiocarcinoma - bile duct cancer - in the past six years.

She had previously raised £6,000 for charity following the death of her friend, and former colleague, Kathryn Swain.

And Sarah is hoping to hit now hit over £1000 again this weekend in a charity cycle for her friend Lena Burns (52), who passed away suddenly with the same rare cancer in March.

"I am raising money in memory of a very close friend, the extraordinary Lena Burns," Sarah said.

"Lena, who was also a dentist, sadly passed away very suddenly with bile duct cancer. She went from being well to poorly in just four weeks. Unfortunately for Lena, it was terminal very quickly.

"To say it was a shock to all who knew her, is an understatement. Lena was strong, determined and caring, yet her life was cut short.

"Lena was such a character of a person, a lot of people cared for her, so I wanted to do something that would bring people together in a fun event to raise money for bile duct cancer charity AMMF.

"Wherever she was, she would have a huge smile on her face; she could lift the spirit of any room. She was the definition of living life to the full."

Sarah, who is a clinician at the The Heathcote Dental and Implant Clinic in Great King Street, has teamed up with Macclesfield's Inspired Personal Training to organise a fundraising bikeathon.

Sunday's Bikeathon also serves as a training event for Sarah, who plans to complete a charity marathon, 180 kilometre cycle and four kilometre swim in October.

Tina Smyth of Inspired Personal Training, who is Sarah's personal trainer and event organiser, had this to say ahead of Sunday.

"At the moment we have 25 partaking in the Bikeathon to raise awareness and money the UK's only cholangiocarcinoma charity," said Tina.

"At any time from 4:45am on Sunday, there will be people cycling outside on two Watt bikes and one Keiser bike.

"We've got people who have never cycled before, to people from Macc Wheelers.

"I am really glad to support Sarah because she is such a lovely person, I've known her for three years and I was actually invited to her 30th birthday party where I met Lena.

"So it is really strange to think she is no longer with us, you just don't know what is round the corner."

There are three targets for the bikeathon: the first is 235 kilometres, which is the length of Jamaica. This is to represent Lena's hobby of working with the Jamaican trapeze artist team.

The second is the length of Kerala, India, where Lena's parents are from. This will be double the prior target, at 580 kilometres.

The final target is from Manchester to Amsterdam, which is a holiday destination route Sarah and Lena went on multiple times.

This will be the hardest, being 694.3 kilometres, however, Sarah and Tina are hoping the Macclesfield community will help them exceed that figure.

You can add your kilometres cycled on Sunday, from wherever you are, through the Strava app with #QueenRaggy and the JustGiving page

If you have some time to spare to pop down to Tytherington, you can also book a cycling slot via [email protected].

Macclesfield Nub News will partake in the cancer-fundraising Bikeathon on Sunday.

You can donate to the JustGiving page which has already met the original £500 goal, here.

Cholangiocarcinoma is the cause of 1,800 deaths in the UK per year, with only a 5% survival rate one year from the diagnosis.

It is difficult to diagnose accurately, but identifying it early is crucial. For more information, please head to the AMMF website.

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