Addingham woman with terminal cancer completes Everest Marathon

A woman with incurable breast cancer has said her resilience “paid off” after she completed the Everest Marathon.

Shaunna Burke, from Addingham, West Yorkshire, was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer in 2024, and has since undergone four months of chemotherapy, a double mastectomy, liver surgery and radiotherapy.

Dr Burke, an associate professor in exercise and health psychology at the University of Leeds, completed the race on 29 May in seven hours and 41 minutes, finishing fourth in her category.

She said the marathon – which is the world’s highest – was “extremely demanding on the body”, as starting at such a high altitude meant there was less oxygen in the air.

“The Everest Marathon actually starts at an elevation of 5,300m [17,388ft], which is very taxing on the human body,” she explained.

“The body is under stress because of the low oxygen in the air, so everyday simple tasks – getting in and out of your tent to walk to the dining tent or to walk to the toilet tent – can actually become very difficult.

“Your heart rate becomes elevated, breathing becomes more laborious – so if you can imagine trying to run a marathon at that altitude, how hard that actually is.”

Despite this, Dr Burke said the atmosphere among the competitors was “absolutely fantastic”, with at least 200 participants from 32 different countries running in the marathon.

“Everyone was united by just wanting to be in the mountains and to experience something very different,” Dr Burke said.

“It is not just a marathon, it is more than that. It passes through the Sherpa villages, passes through the monasteries.

“It offers that real inside look into the cultural heritage of the Khumbu Valley.”

Dr Burke, who is Canadian, has been to the Everest region three times before, first visiting back in 2003.

Her work involves studying exercise and its effects on cancer, and throughout her cancer treatment she said she had managed to stay fit, running to and from her hospital appointments as a way of coping.

She has previously climbed four out of the seven highest peaks in the world – Mount Aconcagua in Argentina, Elbrus in Russia, Kilimanjaro in Africa and Everest in Nepal.

Dr Burke said the Everest Marathon “played to my strengths as a mountaineer”.

“I summited Everest in 2005, so I do know what it’s like to push myself in high altitudes.

“That resilience, I have it within me, and I think it paid off.

“It took me seven hours and 41 minutes to complete the marathon, you can’t compare this to a marathon at sea level.

“I ended up finishing fourth for females in the foreigner category, so I am very pleased with my result.”

Dr Burke vowed not to give up on her passion for the mountains, and said: “Bigger mountains are coming next, watch this space.”

The Tenzing Hillary Everest Marathon is an annual race which starts at Everest Base Camp and finishes in the town of Namche Bazaar.

It is held on 29 May to celebrate the Everest ascent by Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Sir Edmund Hillary on the same date in 1953.

Not only did Dr Burke complete the marathon, to acclimatise less than two weeks before she also climbed the 20,075ft (6,119m) high Lobuche Peak in Nepal.

She has raised more than £10,000 for the Macmillan cancer charity, which helped her during her treatment at Airedale Hospital and St James’ Hospital in Leeds.