Dominic Hester was aged just 45 when he died from a brain tumour, 13 months after his diagnosis and a father to three young children. 

The managing partner of a Clitheroe law firm, he enjoyed being athletic and would cycle the 20-mile round trip to work.

Now his former colleagues, Simon England and James Robbins, are set to run, cycle and walk around 180-miles over just five days not just in memory of Dominic but also due to both their dads dying of the same illness. 

Although they held off from the challenge for a couple of years, solicitors Simon and James are ready to begin their five-day ‘Great Green Commute’ that starts on Monday (August 12) to raise awareness and money for The Brain Tumour Charity.

Kate Everson, Dominic’s widow, is grateful to his former colleagues for supporting the charity as she describes the cancer as “underfunded” despite the effect it has on children and adults under 40 being more than any other cancer.

She also says there has not been much progression for treatment of brain tumours so appreciates any support to the charity.

James, a solicitor at Harrison Drury’s, said: “Dominic was really nice, very friendly, had a great sense of humour and hard-working when he needed to be. Given that all the time I knew him he had been diagnosed, I can’t say exactly when it became terminal, but I think it was from the get-go.

"Certainly, from his attitude and knowing him you wouldn’t have known there was anything wrong with him because he just got on with things being remarkably positive. He had historically always cycled to work which is 10-miles there and back which is part of the rationale behind doing this.

“After his death it was incredibly sad even though I hadn’t known him that long we had got close so for him to no longer be there, obviously far sadder for his family and three children with him only being 45 and the children still being so young.”

James said that he and Simon hope to inspire people, not only to create awareness of brain tumours being a lesser well-known illness but also the sustainability of using different ways, particularly cycling, to travel places, instead of just cars.

Over the course of the challenge, they will be running longer than the distance of a marathon as well as a 34-mile bike ride. The final stretch on top of that is an 18-mile run followed by a 39-mile hike to their Manchester office.

They have the support of their colleagues, two in particular Kate Warmsley and Bethany Potts who without them the challenge would never have got off the ground thanks to help with booking hotels and arranging for their bags to be picked up/dropped off. As well as others who will be joining them hiking or running the trip from Lancaster to Garstang.

James added: “It makes you realise life can be short and you need to enjoy making the most of it. When you have someone fairly young with a young family and it is sadly cut short.”

Their total so far is £785 but they wish to make more as the week goes on. The Brain Tumour Charity focuses on research so the hope is to help people suffer less when struggling with this illness.

Evie Wragg, senior community fundraiser for The Brain Tumour Charity, said: “We are extremely grateful for all the efforts made by Simon England and James Robbins and wish them all the very best. Brain tumours are the biggest cancer killers of the under 40s and, unlike other cancers, survival rates have not improved over the last 40 years.”

“We are leading the way in changing this and truly fighting brain tumours on all fronts through our work. It’s through the efforts of people like the Harrison Drury team that we are able to move further and faster to help every single person affected by a brain tumour.”