Ruth Dawson, 40, from Cowes on the Isle of Wight, is preparing for the great wall of china as part of a five-day charity challenge in September 2026. She was selected from more than 3, 000 applicants to join 120 people taking on the CoppaTrek! event for breast cancer charity CoppaFeel!. Dawson says the cause matters deeply to her after her own breast cancer diagnosis in November 2024.
Selected for a Major China Challenge
The trek will see the group cover around 50 kilometres a day over five days, with Dawson joining the line-up after being chosen for the event alongside celebrity captain Giovanna Fletcher. The challenge is set for September 2026, and Dawson has already met the £4, 000 fundraising target needed to take part. She now wants to raise more.
Dawson said the charity’s co-founder, Kristin Hallenga, helped her push for answers when she was trying to understand what was happening with her health. Hallenga was diagnosed with breast cancer aged 23, and Dawson said seeing her story made her keep going back to the hospital. “It’s quite scary advocating for yourself and pushing for answers, and it was Kris who inspired me, ” Dawson said. “Even when facing a huge battle, she was full of life. It pushed me to keep going back to the hospital. ”
Why the Trek Means So Much
Dawson is now on monthly injections, daily medications and regular check-ups. She said the diagnosis is something she will “carry with her forever, ” and she wants more women to understand that breast cancer can affect younger people, not only older adults. Her goal is to help ensure breast cancers are diagnosed quickly and accurately.
Training has already started on the Isle of Wight. Dawson has been doing walks including her “Gurnard loop” and the route from Sandown to Shanklin, and she may also take on Scafell Pike in Cumbria or Snowdon in Wales with her two sons as a tougher training hike. She is also set to take part in the Isle of Wight Ultra Challenge on Saturday, May 2, and plans to do more events before the China trip.
Support, Training, and What Comes Next
Dawson said she would like a dream team leader of Roy Keane or Paul Scholes for the CoppaFeel! trek, and she thanked friends and family for their support. She said she expects to be “blown away” when she reaches the Great Wall of China and believes she will be “in for a shock. ”
The wider challenge is drawing together people with different stories, but Dawson’s is rooted in a diagnosis that changed her life and a charity she says helped her through it. With the great wall of china trek still ahead, her focus is on training, fundraising and turning that experience into support for others facing breast cancer.
