My Dad died of cancer when i was 12 from a brain tumor. Growing up as an only child without my Dad has had its challenges, resistances and punishments. When you're 12, watching your Dad battle a disease, knowing it is going to kill him, is something that I can't put into words upon reflecting it. Yet, my Dad never backed down from a fight (even as a pacifist) and neither will I. On my 18th Birthday, my Nan (Dad's mum) gave me a journal that my dad had left me. I read it in the restaurant immediately. What he wrote me, was to my 12 year old self. This journal he left me was full of wisdom and lessons, quotes and stories, ideas and realities. Now I will admit, I was crying by the time I got to the bottom of the first page. I could almost hear him reading it to me. The words felt so delicate yet without method. So simple yet so beautiful. It was an essence of a brave man facing death but balancing it with optimism.

Now admittedly, I knew I was doing the marathon before my 18th birthday, but after my 18th, I knew I would be doing it as an optimist.

This is more than a run.

This is for my Dad.

My idol.

Love Rafe xx

Brain tumors kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer… yet just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease. This is unacceptable!

I am fundraising for Brain Tumor Research as my dad died of a brain tumor in 2018. Brain Tumor Research are the only national charity dedicated to funding long-term, sustainable research in the UK. Please help me fund the fight. Together we will find a cure.