One of East Anglia’s most vivid events, the Pink Ladies Tractor Road Run, is racing towards a fundraising target of £1million. Writer Kate Royall has decided to take part for the first time.
The sight of tractors bustling along the county’s roads is not unusual. But once a year, a caterpillar of vividly decorated pink tractors winds its way through our roads and villages. The Pink Ladies Tractor Road Run first geared up in 2004 after organiser Annie Chapman set her sights on what she calls ‘a slightly crazy ambition’ to raise £1m. Since then, a staggering total of £896,000 has been raised – with every penny donated to Cancer Research UK’s breast cancer appeal.
This year’s run broke the team’s fundraising record for a single year – an impressive £84,000. So, they’ve set their sights for 2023 on raising the £104,000 needed to smash through the £1m mark.
Many years ago, I interviewed Annie. I had an hour assigned and four hours later I left inspired by the force of the woman I’d met and enthused about her event. I could have talked with her for days. Her fundraising efforts have seen her receive a British Empire Medal and earlier this year she was shortlisted for a Pride of Britain Award. Fast forward a few years and I had moved to a village only a few miles away from Annie. I made contact and offered to help, writing news stories about the run to raise its profile.
Since then, Annie has tried her best to persuade me to take part and I’m sure countless other women have been approached. Each year around 110 women from across the country do the run. Many have driven a tractor before, but most will have been touched by breast cancer in some way. Some have taken part since the very start and every year a flurry of new participants join the convoy and take to the roads. Next year, for the very first time that will include me. Annie is very persuasive.
It’s not only the women taking part that make the event happen. It’s also down to the people who lend their tractors, the land-owners, the many marshals, the collecting crew and countless others who pull together in an extraordinary team effort. Once I had decided to take part, the idea of sourcing a tractor seemed monumental, but this is East Anglia and thanks to a superb local farmer I now have a tractor in my sights. I will need some training, though . . .
The route, which winds its way through north Suffolk and south Norfolk, is 20 miles long. It takes in rural roads and farm tracks and there’s even a section called the Brockdish splash. Knowing rural East Anglia, even in July there will be plenty of mud, water and other motorists to contend with. I’ll come clean - this won’t come as an entire shock to me. I live on a farm, and I can drive a modern tractor, but it’s been some years since I’ve driven without power steering and certainly in a vehicle without a roof.
As the event gets closer, I can imagine so will my checklist. I need to meet my tractor and get familiar with it, learn to drive it, start fundraising and then will come the enormous task of sourcing pink decorations for myself and the tractor. As a spectator for many years, I've witnessed the crowd-lined routes. I’ve met the ladies, their friends and families at the picnic lunch which punctuates the route.I’ve heard their inspiring and heart-breaking stories.
I’ve seen people along the route dressed head-to-toe in pink, cheering, clapping and crying in support, in towns, villages, lay-bys and gardens. I’ve seen houses and businesses bedecked in pink bunting, banners and flags. I’ve witnessed it all first-hand, but being part of the run and driving through the waves of support will be something else entirely.
The run does so much more than raise vital funds. It creates a support network for so many, it brings light and laughter to people at times when there may be little, it raises awareness and, just maybe, it makes women check their breasts for anything out of the ordinary. It certainly made me check mine. I remember one year cycling home from the run to write about it and, as I sat at my computer, I checked my breasts and found a lump. It was terrifying. Thankfully, it turned out to be a fatty cyst.
So, I will be taking part in the run, thinking about the strength of the hundreds of women who have taken part over the years, and my treasured Aunty Betty who died of breast cancer. But, I will be doing it with a huge smile on my face, hoping not to hold up the convoy or stall the tractor.
Join me as I prepare for this amazing journey and lift the bonnet on how the event comes together. Donations are already being pledged for 2023. If you'd like to donate please visit
fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/unite/pink-ladies-tractor-road-run-2023
The 2023 Ladies’ Tractor Road Run takes place on Sunday July 2. For more information about the event visit ladiestractorroadrun.co.uk
Pink Lady profile
Name: Lynne Ainge
Age: 61
Where are you from? I was born in Norwich, but now live between Brome in Suffolk and Bandon in County Cork, Ireland.
How long have you been taking part? My first run was in 2012. The 2023 event will be my 10th run (Covid year missing).
What motivates you? In November 2009 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I had a lumpectomy in January 2010, followed by radiotherapy. I had seen the tractor run in the local press previously but now it meant more. I really wanted to be a Pink Lady and raise awareness as well as funds. One of my cousins worked on a farm and arranged for me to drive a small Massey Ferguson for my first run in 2012.
I am a breast cancer survivor, however, I also have many friends, work colleagues and family who have been affected. Sadly, not all have been survivors. I have lost count of the messages at all times of the day or night from people I know well to reach out and ask how I coped because they have been given that news that they have breast cancer. I will always be there and try to reassure, support and help.
I have always been happy to talk as openly as possible because if it raises awareness and gets people treated quickly then that is a good thing.
Where do you source your tractor? After the first two years driving the Fergie I sadly lost my husband to bladder cancer. I was in touch with a local farmer, Jonah Mitchell, regarding a matter relating to my husband and mentioned the tractor run. He immediately offered me a tractor that was closer to home, more modern and less pressure on my knees to change gear! I jumped at the chance and have been using one of Jonah's tractors ever since. It is his contribution to the cause and for that I am eternally grateful. The transformation from a working tractor on a pig farm to a pink tractor is actually quite amazing.
How do you decorate your tractor? I've been collecting pink stuff for 11 years now and add something each year. I have developed a theme of flowers and flamingos. I even have a flamingo from Ireland named after the pilot of the plane who brought it to England. I met him and it was fabulous that he had heard about the tractor run. His name was Robin. I also have a giant pink rose that always attracts attention. It normally takes three to four hours to decorate the tractor on the Saturday afternoon before the run.
What is the atmosphere like on the day of the run? Amazing! So many emotions - excitement, nerves, tears, joy, happiness and thankful to be a survivor. The people lining the route make it all worthwhile, and their claps and cheers keep me going - also crying, as I know so many of them have been affected by cancer. That collective support is just incredible.
How important is it for you to take part in such an iconic fundraising event? It's the one event in my year when everything else takes a back seat. I want to raise funds, awareness, and also give hope to others who may be affected. All my family and friends, on both sides of the Irish Sea, support me. I'll do the run for as long as it takes place. I'm also doing other events this year to add to the push to £1million, including a cake stall, car boot sale and a fashion show.
