London Marathon stories
Multiple human‑interest runners are being profiled ahead of the London Marathon, from survivors to fundraisers and costume runners. (yorkpress.co.uk) Featured examples include Sandra Breene, a CLL survivor taking part after treatment; Charlie Nodwell, running on April 26 to raise funds after his wife’s bowel‑cancer diagnosis; and Abi Stevens, running for Sue Ryder in memory of her mother — the BBC also covered runners who tackle the race in costume and the extra physical strain that adds. (yourthurrock.com) (keighleynews.co.uk) (bbc.co.uk)
The London Marathon on Sunday, April 26, is filling up with runners who are treating 26.2 miles as a public act of grief, survival and fundraising, not just a race. (tcslondonmarathon.com) (yorkpress.co.uk) (yourthurrock.com) Sandra Breene, 57, of York is due to run with her husband Alan after a May 2022 blood test found a dangerously high white blood count and led to a diagnosis of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, a blood cancer. York Press reported that the couple hope to raise £25,000 for Leukaemia UK. (yorkpress.co.uk) (leukaemiauk.org.uk) Breene said she finished treatment on August 12, 2025 and is now back on “watch and wait,” with blood tests every three months. Her JustGiving page showed £13,693 raised from 206 supporters against a £12,000 target when it was last crawled. (leukaemiauk.org.uk) (justgiving.com) Charlie Nodwell, 46, of Woodford is running for the Institute of Cancer Research after his wife Courtney was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer in September 2024. Your Thurrock reported that he will run on April 26 and is raising money for cancer patients and families affected by the disease. (yourthurrock.com) (justgiving.com) Nodwell’s fundraiser showed £2,313 raised from 51 supporters toward a £2,500 target when it was last crawled. He and Courtney have two children, and he said the diagnosis came as a shock to the family. (justgiving.com) (yourlocalguardian.co.uk) Abi Stevens, 28, of Silsden is running for Sue Ryder in memory of her mother Julie Stevens, who died last September after being cared for at Sue Ryder Manorlands Hospice. Keighley News reported that Stevens is also marking her best friend’s recovery from cancer. (keighleynews.co.uk) (justgiving.com) Those stories sit inside a race that has long doubled as a charity platform. The London Marathon says its course is 26.2 miles from Greenwich to The Mall, and charities including Sue Ryder and Bowel Cancer UK are actively recruiting runners for the 2026 event. (tcslondonmarathon.com) (sueryder.org) (bowelcanceruk.org.uk) Another layer of the event is spectacle. The BBC reported that runners who wear novelty costumes take on extra heat, weight and restricted movement, turning the same 26.2-mile route into a harder physical test. (bbc.co.uk) That helps explain why local profiles ahead of April 26 keep returning to the same point: for many entrants, the marathon is being used to make illness, bereavement and recovery visible over one long day in London. (yorkpress.co.uk) (yourthurrock.com) (keighleynews.co.uk)
