Real Lives: Lisa gives ever Mo to help fight cancer

Lisa Kennedy is the kind of person with the ability to turn bad experiences into positive outcomes.

Lisa Kennedy with father Ken Smith

The 39-year-old business analyst has managed to raise around £850 for the Movember Foundation through her fundraising efforts over the last few years.

Lisa, who hails from Mid Calder, will be taking part in the Edinburgh MoRun on 10 November to raise awareness of testicular and prostate cancer.

The fundraising efforts are personal – Lisa’s own father beat testicular cancer before overcoming prostate cancer.

Now she wants to do whatever she can to help those suffering from the diseases.

She said: “My Dad was diagnosed with testicular cancer about 14 years ago. I remember my Mum said he’d been really out of sorts. He was doing what men often do when they are in crisis, he was hiding it. Once he had his actual diagnosis I think he then confided in her, he went on to be treated successfully and that was that with the testicular cancer.”

Lisa believes her father had known about his prostate cancer for a while, before finally revealing it to the family in 2014.

“He first told me that he had prostate cancer in 2014, just after I’d had my son Liam. I’m absolutely positive he’s since admitted he’d had it a year or two before then, although he didn’t want us to worry about him when he didn’t actually need to have any treatment for it, and I fully understand that.

“It was only last year when his PSA levels began to rise really quickly that he was then told by his doctor that he would need to make a decision about what he wanted to do, or not do, about it. My Dad decided he would just have the whole prostate taken out.

“Fortunately, he recovered really well from the surgery and remains in good health.”

Lisa, who took part in the Edinburgh MoRun last year, will be joined this time around by her four-old-son Liam, who is running the 1.5k Mini Mo, a shorter version of the course for runners aged 3-12 years.

She commented: “Liam is always upset to be left behind at the start line when my husband or I are running so he will enjoy having his own moment of glory. It will be nice to do it with him.”

Talking about her preparation for the event, Lisa said: “Training has been good, I try to run three times a week. Whether its 2k or 5k, slower or faster, it doesn’t matter. Like many people, it’s the consistency I struggle with. So plotting events to aim for helps with the self-discipline when the motivation is waning.

“My husband is a really good runner, so he helps me to get out and get it done when I’m feeling tired or lazy. What’s really nice is that a few of my friends are now giving it a try because I’ve proved you don’t need to be in peak physical condition to get health benefits from just going for a jog or increasing your walking.”