This week, our friend John Caine and several old mates, colleagues and running buddies, all depart for St Jean Pied de Port in south west France at the base of the Pyrenees, to kick off their charity hike across the world famous Camino de Santiago.

This year is the 20th anniversary of John’s life saving surgery in the Oesophageal and Gastric Cancer Unit at the Newcastle RVI, and John decided a suitable celebration would be to make the 500 mile walk while at the same time raising funds for the unit to continue its important research into these particular cancers.

Ex-international runner John was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 1999, but declared he owed his life to Prof. Mike Griffin and his team at the RVI.

John has every chance of success in his latest athletic pursuit, being joined by two Olympic medallists – Great North Run founder Brendan Foster and Ian Stewart – as well as former rugby player Eric Wilkins and long term running partners Andrew Weaver and Mike Candlish (who’s also Inspectas Director Craig’s dad) .

They are soon to commence their 500 mile (that’s 800km!) hike westwards over the Pyrenees and across northern Spain on the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route, to the Cathedral of St James [Iago in Spanish] in the city of Santiago, Galicia.

Clearly, not a day goes by without John being grateful for the medical intervention he experienced and hence his attempt at a tangible form of thanks.

All at Inspectas wish them well and will be adding to their sponsorship total, as are many of our suppliers. We’d love it if you could contribute too, either financially or by sharing the JustGiving link here.