Grace King
Grace's page
Fundraising for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity
Story
Every wonder where I get my childlike sense of humour and rubbish puns from?... My Hero!
When I was younger, I started running middle distance for Sutton Athletics. I used to take part in County races and with some of my friends from the Club, also took part in the Mini (kids 5K) Marathon which takes place during the actual London Marathon.
I found the run really enjoyable so opted to do it again however, between the 1st and 2nd time, I had moved away from middle distance running to become a sprinter. Long story short, at this point I hated running any distance further than 200m.
My dad would give me a training plan and take me down to the arena to follow it. He encouraged me to keep going and offered up Mars bars for rewards! With his help I found the run enjoyable and added running the actual London Marathon to my bucket list.
In my late teenage years, I gave up running for the club and only really ran to keep fit so the likelihood of me signing up to the Marathon became less and less.
Fast forward to March 2015...
My dad was diagnosed with Myeloma and the news broke my family. We watched and supported as best we could whilst he underwent gruelling treatment, including Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy, followed by a Stem Cell Transplant in February 2016.
The treatments for cancer are extremely harsh on the body, restricting what my dad could do day to day, but Dad never, not once complained and lucky for us the treatment worked, putting him into remission where he continues to take endless amount of medication and is regularly monitored. Whilst Dads' health has significantly improved, he still has no sense of feeling in his feet, no taste buds and a terrible sense of humour.
We always knew the news was coming and again, the Marsden have been incredible in keeping us informed, so it wasn't too much of a shock to us when the news came last month that Dad now needs to undergo more treatment so I couldn't think of a better time to sign up and run, raising money for an incredible Charity to help them continue to provide this incredible support but also, develop different treatment that reduces long term side effects.
I'm currently incredibly unfit but if my dad can get through all of this, I'm sure I can hack running 26.2 miles with the aim of completing it in around 4 hours 30 minutes.
Cancer now affects 1 in 2 and unfortunately, we all experience too many close family and friends also being diagnosed with the various types.
I'd therefore also like to run in memory of Robert Clampitt, one of dad's long-term friends who had also been diagnosed with Myeloma back in 2012 and underwent similar treatment with the Royal Marsden but sadly passed away last year.
I know times are challenging right now with the cost of living, but I'd be extremely grateful if you would sponsor me with whatever you can.
The cost of a Stem Cell alone can be between £50,000 - £120,000 so I'm really keen to meet my target of £4,000.
Thank-You.
The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity raises money solely to support The Royal Marsden, a world-leading cancer centre. We ensure our nurses, doctors and research teams can provide the very best care and develop life-saving treatments, which are used across the UK and around the world. From funding state-of-the-art equipment and groundbreaking research, to creating the very best patient environments, we will never stop looking for ways to improve the lives of people affected by cancer.
