It's been a long journey to the marathon - three years in fact! 

My beloved mum was diagnosed with metastatic bowel cancer late 2018, which had already spread to her liver. 

Her illness  reminded me how precious and short life is and about the life goals I have that I just hadn’t got round to achieving yet – running a marathon being one. So I signed up for the London Marathon - my first. By training for and running it, I also wanted to honour my Mum and get through the difficult and emotional journey of cancer with her. 

I trained up to 14 miles and then the pandemic struck so the marathon was delayed. I trained again. It was cancelled. My place was moved to 2021. I started training again but a back injury meant I had to abandon the training, so my place was moved to 2022.

When my mum was diagnosed, it looked unlikely she would survive to see me complete the 2020 marathon but she not only managed to survive but thrive with her customary energy and positivity, despite the pandemic, until 2021, when she deteriorated. My sister and I cared for her at home until her death in October 2021. 

I miss her desperately and would have loved for her to see me cross the finish line but I'm determined to achieve my goal and run the marathon for her and all sufferers of bowel cancer - the UK's second-biggest cancer killer. 

I have now raised well over the minimum sponsorship for Bowel Cancer UK and my original target of £3,000, but would so appreciate any further donations, which will help this vital charity...and propel me to the finish line.

Many thanks!

Alix