KUALA LUMPUR: Two years after losing his wife to cancer, a 66-year-old runner is preparing to embark on a 2,200km run across Peninsular Malaysia to raise funds and awareness for children battling the disease.
Penang-born cancer awareness advocate Lim Shyang Guey will undertake the journey, dubbed Run for Gold, with support from the National Cancer Society Malaysia (NCSM).
The initiative aims to raise RM600,000 to support childhood cancer awareness efforts and services for young patients and their families.
The run will also form the torch relay component of Relay For Life Malaysia 2026, carrying messages of hope and solidarity to communities along the route.
Lim is scheduled to begin the journey on March 28 from the NCSM–MPPP Home of Hope in Penang, travelling through all 11 states in Peninsular Malaysia and the federal territories before returning in time to mark his 67th birthday on June 22.
Over approximately 90 days, he plans to cover between 25km and 35km daily, with rest days scheduled along the way.
Funds raised from the campaign will be channelled to NCSM to support childhood cancer programmes, including the Home of Hope, psychosocial care and survivorship services currently provided in Penang, Perak and Kuala Lumpur.
For Lim, the run is deeply personal.
His wife, Joo Lee, died of cancer in August 2024 at the age of 63. Lim had been her caregiver during the final months of her illness, an experience he said profoundly shaped his understanding of the emotional toll cancer takes on families.
“My wife passed away from gallbladder cancer two years ago. I was her caregiver for four months, and that experience made me understand what both patients and caregivers go through,” he said.
“Cancer affects not just the patient, but the caregiver as well. If I can do something to help relieve that suffering, that will be my mission,” said the retired father of two.
He said the journey was originally a dream he shared with his late wife.
“This journey is driven by love, remembrance and the desire to make a difference,” Lim said.
“My wife and I once dreamed of travelling around Peninsular Malaysia on foot. After losing her to cancer, I felt compelled to complete this journey, not just for us, but for the children who are bravely fighting cancer every day.”
The route will take Lim from Penang north to Kedah and Perlis before crossing the mountainous East-West Highway into Kelantan. He will then head down the east coast through Terengganu and Pahang before continuing south to Johor.
From there, he will move north again through Melaka, Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh before returning to Penang, where he plans to complete the challenge with a 78km run around the island in a single day.
Although the scale of the run is daunting, Lim insisted that age is no barrier.
“Some people say 66 is old, but I don’t see it that way. You just have to make sure you are ready,” he said.
The cause became particularly meaningful after he visited facilities supporting young cancer patients, including the Home of Hope centres run by the National Cancer Society Malaysia.
“When I visited the Home of Hope in Kuala Lumpur and Penang, I could see the impact it has on the children. That really touched me,” he said.
“The infrastructure is already there. What they need are donations and resources to keep helping these children.”
Lim said witnessing the challenges faced by families affected by cancer strengthened his resolve to focus the campaign on young patients.
“I saw first-hand how cancer affects not only the children suffering from the disease, but also the parents who endure the painful journey with them.”
Despite the scale of the challenge, Lim is not an ultra-marathon athlete.
He is a regular half-marathon runner and has set a personal goal of completing a half marathon on every continent. So far, he has run races on four continents, with plans to complete the remaining three in Antarctica, South America and Africa.
His preparations for the cross-peninsula run began after completing the Sydney Marathon last August — only the second full marathon of his life.
“The last time I ran a full marathon before that was when I was 28,” he said.
He completed the Sydney race alongside his son, who lives in Australia.
“My son was basically running next to me, hydrating me and making sure I kept going.”
Since then, his training routine has included daily running and walking, weekly strength training sessions at the gym and a high-protein diet to sustain the physical demands of the challenge.
“I don’t have a formal training programme,” he said.
“My support crew just tells me — keep your feet on the ground. Walk, run, just keep moving.”
Beyond fundraising, Lim hopes his journey will also inspire older Malaysians to remain active and use their experience and networks to help those in need.
“We’ve worked for many years and built networks and connections. We should use them to help people who are less fortunate,” he said.
“We shouldn’t just wake up, go for a morning walk, have lunch and yam cha. There are many more things we can do in our lives.”
NCSM managing director Associate Professor Dr Murallitharan Munisamy, who was also present at the press conference with Lim, described the initiative as a powerful effort to transform personal loss into hope for others.
“Lim’s Run for Gold is more than an endurance challenge – it is a journey of hope for children and families affected by cancer,” he said.
He added that funds raised would strengthen the society’s childhood cancer support services, including the Home of Hope, psychosocial care and survivorship programmes.
He said NCSM and Lim would be engaging with communities along the 2200km route while conducting cancer screenings for locals, sharing cancer awareness programs, messages and hearing the experiences of families affected by the disease.
“At least 60 Community engagement events are also expected to be held in major towns in collaboration with NCSM, caregivers, survivors and local supporters during the 90-days journey,” he said.
Murallitharan said initiative takes inspiration from the Gold Ribbon, the international symbol for childhood cancer awareness, representing the preciousness of children and the resilience of young patients and their families.
The run is supported by several local and international corporations, including IHH Healthcare, MCIS Life, Kobay Technology Berhad, Asics, Exabytes and Garmin.
Members of the public are invited to join Lim for parts of the run along the route or contribute through donations to support children with cancer and their families.
Original Article: Runner to embark on 2,200km run across Peninsular for childhood cancer cause
