Running the London Marathon has been a very long held ambition which I was finally going to achieve in 2020. Within a few days of completing my last training run for the Manchester and London marathons, both events were cancelled and I found myself facing another big challenge of an entirely different sort, having a key role in managing the COVID pandemic. 

Two and a half years on I have since completed a virtual London Marathon and a real Manchester Marathon (Oct 21) but the London Marathon remains uncompleted. Hopefully that will change on 2nd October when I finally get to take my place on the start line. 

Below is the 'story' from my original fundraising page which explains why I am running for The Christie. Thanks to so many incredible donations last time around I have already met my fundraising target so this page is set up purely for anyone who still wants to donate. Thank you in advance. 

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Marathons, melanoma and The Christie hospital have been very closely linked for me in the last few years. In April I will be running the Manchester and London marathons for the Christie - somewhere that has felt a bit like a second home at time over the last 2 years.
In April 2018 I completed my 2nd marathon; feeling great and with a new PB which was close to a ‘good for age’ qualifying time for the London marathon. In the post run excitement I booked a place for the following year’s Manchester Marathon but also knew I needed to go to see my GP to get a mole on my knee checked out. This wasn’t
anything to worry about - I had had moles removed before with no issues. The upcoming marathon had meant I delayed doing something about this one - really I should have known better!
Within weeks my world was turned upside down: from being a healthy and active marathon runner, I was now a cancer patient with stage 3 melanoma. Quickly CT scans, surgery and weekly hospital appointments became the new norm. Finding out that a second round of surgery was needed which might leave me unable to run again
was definitely a low point, as was the following year of drug treatment with challenging side effects which resulted in more hospital stays. Early in 2019 I was able to take my first tentative steps into trying to run again and I now feel very lucky to be somewhere very near back to normal; running marathons is once again a realistic prospect.
My 2019 Manchester Marathon place which I wasn’t able to take up has been deferred so at the beginning of April 2020 I will once again be running the Manchester course.
However having missed a year of running, the time feels right to take on an extra challenge, and I have been very lucky to be offered a charity place the run the London Marathon for the Christie.