'I'm running a marathon every month in 2026'

While many people are setting their 2026 fitness goals this January, one man from Halifax has committed to running at least one marathon or half-marathon every month in 2026.

Oli Burbage-Hall, 49, is aiming to complete 14 races – including two on a polar ice cap in Greenland – to raise money for Pancreatic Cancer UK.

Oli's year of running begins this weekend with The Hebden, a 22-mile loop around Hebden Bridge.

The year-long challenge was inspired by Oli's colleagues Andrea and Wendy, who were both diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

"My predecessor, Andrea, passed away from pancreatic cancer and then about a year later another colleague was diagnosed with the disease and she's currently going through treatment," he says.

"Over the course of the last year, we were talking about it and I indicated that because I do a fair bit of running, I'd be interested in doing some fundraising.

"At the time she was being supported by the specialist nurses at Pancreatic Cancer UK and she didn't hesitate to nominate that charity as the cause. So I jumped on board."

Easily the biggest adventure of Oli's year is going to be The Polar Bear Challenge in September, he says, a weekend of running at -15⁰C: a marathon on the Saturday followed by a half-marathon on the Sunday.

Luckily, the tour has doctors on hand, because frostbite is a major concern, he says.

"They will make sure you're not deteriorating during the course of the race.

"There's different levels of frostbite you can get and if you get to a certain level when you enter the race, you have to stop.

"There's a consideration around different layers. There's various sort of stops where you'll be getting refuelling and you can leave wet clothing.

"A big fear is that you've ended up getting wet, then you've had to slow down a lot and when you slow down but you're already wet from sweat, you're going to really get cold quickly at -15°C."

But another worry is of course the polar bears for which the challenge is named.

"I'm sure a polar bear can run a lot faster than anybody that will be doing the race. But as far as I'm aware, there'd been no incidents over the last few years."

And then there are Trump's recent statements about Greenland – what if the icy challenge gets a bit more heated?

"That's out of my hands. I know we've all got our own views about that. I hope it will go ahead. All I can really do is monitor the Foreign Office guidance on that and what the tour companies say as the months go by," he says.

Closer to home, Oli is also looking forward to completing a 20-mile race that includes the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland.

"I haven't actually been abroad myself for about eight years, so the trip to Northern Ireland for the Giant's Causeway will be my first time on time on a plane since 2018," he says.

"Before I got round to planning this particular course of races I'd met up with some friends from university and one of the conversations we had was about what was on your UK bucket list and Giant's Causeway made it on there for me.

"So I'm ticking two things off for that with the run and the visit."

He has also signed up for the London My Way in April - running the famous route backwards, at midnight.

"It's on the same day as London Marathon. You end up getting the medal and the T-shirt but you don't have to do it on the course.

"I'm starting in Trafalgar Square and running it backwards with all the night time runners that start about midnight," he says.

The year of running also includes the Loch Ness Marathon in September and Alnwick Castle Half Marathon.

Oli hopes to complete another challenge, the Parkrun alphabet, with a 5km route around Zamek w Malborku in Poland.

According to Pancreatic Cancer UK, about 10,000 people are diagnosed with the condition across the UK each year.

Nicola Murphy is a specialist nurse and answers the Pancreatic Cancer UK's helpline.

She says one of the challenges with diagnosis is that a lot of the symptoms are similar to other, more common conditions.

"As well as some of these symptoms being vague and common to all the less serious health problems, we don't have a screening programme for pancreatic cancer the way that we do with other types of cancer and often these symptoms don't start to appear until the cancer has already spread to other parts of the body," she says.

"Unfortunately for 80% of people who are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, they're diagnosed at a later stage where treatment options are limited.

"Surgery is the only potential cure for pancreatic cancer. It's a major surgery and only 10% of patients diagnosed will be able to have the operation be able to have the surgery because of the late diagnosis."

Nicola says fundraisers like Oli make the possibility of a better diagnosis tool a reality.

"Sadly, pancreatic cancer is hugely underfunded and we haven't seen the advancements in treatment and diagnosis in the way that we've seen, thankfully, other types of cancer.

"So Oli and other fundraisers that do these amazing challenges bring much needed funds so that we can then fund incredible research like the breath test for early detection and also to man our support line services for people who are affected," she says.

"I just wish him the best of luck. It sounds amazing, what an experience."

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.