CLL survivor running London

Sandra Breene is training for 26.2 miles in London on Sunday, April 26, 2026, after a cancer diagnosis that turned ordinary movement into something to rebuild step by step. She is running with her husband Alan and the pair hope to raise £25,000 for Leukaemia UK. (yorkpress.co.uk) Her illness is chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, a blood cancer that affects white blood cells called lymphocytes, which are supposed to help fight infection. In chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, the body makes too many abnormal lymphocytes and they can build up in the blood, bone marrow and lymph nodes. (nhs.uk) This cancer often moves slowly, which creates a strange reality for patients: you can be told you have cancer and still not start treatment straight away. The National Health Service says many people with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia do not need treatment for months or years. (nhs.uk) Doctors often call that approach active monitoring, which means regular check-ups and blood tests instead of immediate drugs or chemotherapy. Leukaemia Care says there is no benefit in treating chronic lymphocytic leukaemia early if a patient has few or no troublesome symptoms. (leukaemiacare.org.uk) That waiting period can be mentally hard because the disease is present even when daily life still looks normal from the outside. Leukaemia Care says around 13,300 people in the United Kingdom are currently on “watch and wait” for chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. (leukaemiacare.org.uk) The physical side can be uneven too, because symptoms can include swollen lymph nodes, night sweats, unplanned weight loss, tiredness and repeated infections. Those are not marathon-training conditions, which is part of why finishing a training block after treatment or monitoring can feel like getting a piece of ordinary life back. (nhs.uk) Breene’s race sits inside a much bigger event. London Marathon Events lists the 2026 TCS London Marathon for Sunday, April 26, and the race drew more than 1.1 million applications when the ballot opened, a record according to organisers reported by the York Press. (londonmarathonevents.co.uk, yorkpress.co.uk) That scale is one reason people use marathons as public milestones after illness. A hospital scan, a blood test or a consultant appointment happens in a clinic room, but 26.2 miles through London turns recovery into something family, friends and donors can see in real time. (yorkpress.co.uk, londonmarathonevents.co.uk) For blood cancer charities, that visibility matters because the disease itself is often invisible for long stretches. The Christie NHS Foundation Trust says chronic lymphocytic leukaemia is the most common type of leukaemia and about 2,700 people in the United Kingdom are diagnosed with it each year. (christie.nhs.uk) So Breene’s London run is not just a fundraising challenge or a bucket-list race. It is a very literal measure of distance from diagnosis: one woman, one April start line, and 26.2 miles that would have looked very different on the day she first heard the words chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. (yorkpress.co.uk)