So... one wet windy Sunday Morning in February having never done any fundraising before, I decided to get off my butt and do some good in 2021!

My lovely Dad, Colin passed away from Sarcoma in December 2019 aged 69 years old. He was born and lived in London for most of his life and worked in the city as a BT engineer. Therefore running the London Marathon for Sarcoma UK was the obvious choice. I applied for a place on the Sarcoma UK website and two weeks later I was delighted to find out that I was part of Team Sarcoma 2021 and that in October I would be running through the streets of London in my Dad’s memory.

I'm taking on the 2021 Virgin Money London Marathon to change the lives of people affected by sarcoma.

By running the London Marathon, I have main 3 goals:

1. To raise awareness of what Sarcoma is

If you are reading this then I have achieved this goal.

I had never heard of Sarcoma until my Dad was diagnosed in 2018. 53% of the public have not heard of Sarcoma and only 27% know it is cancer. If more people knew what Sarcoma was, they would get that lump checked out earlier. The earlier Sarcoma is diagnosed, the greater the chance of successful treatment. I want to help get the word out that Sarcoma is cancer and 15 people in the UK are diagnosed with it every day. 

2. To raise funds for Sarcoma UK

The monies raised by the charity fund so many things including research, support for patients, educating health professionals and improving the care for patients (from earlier diagnosis through to more successful treatments that allow patients to have improved outcomes and better quality of life).

My Dad had a metastatic retroperitoneal soft tissue Sarcoma. It was myxofibrosarcoma or liposarcoma but the doctors did not know which and they said it was probably a mixture of both. This unclear diagnosis is evidence that research is underfunded. My Dad tried several treatments but unfortunately the doctors were unable to keep the Sarcoma at bay and it quickly grew. In one of the photos above, you can see my Dad resting his arms on his Sarcoma or ‘Junior’ as my Dad called it (my Dad didn’t lose his humour during his illness!). I’ve included the photo as I feel it’s worth showing how large sarcomas can grow due to lack of successful treatments. With more funding scientists can push the research and discovery of new treatments and drugs forward.

3. Obvious one - to finish the Marathon!

I’ve not run in a race since school and I’m not particularly fit. Training for a full marathon from scratch and running the 26.2 miles on the day will be a real challenge but I felt it would have the most impact and make my Dad proud.

Please support me to help us find better treatments, ensure people get the care they need, and fund expert information and support for anyone who needs it.

Thank you for visiting my page and I am grateful for any donations received.