Brighton Marathon · 4 April 2027
26.2 miles
for Mum and Dad
I'm running for three charities that have become part of my family's story.
days to go
Sunday 4 April 2027
Why I'm running
Two diagnoses in 2025.
For Dad
I'm running the Brighton Marathon on Sunday 4 April 2027 for my dad.
My dad, Mike, was diagnosed with bowel cancer in June 2025. He had radiotherapy and chemotherapy through the second half of 2025, which shrank the tumour.
In February 2026 he had major surgery at Preston: the surgeons removed it all, with clear margins and all eight lymph nodes clear. He was discharged to routine follow-up.
In April the scans found the cancer had spread to his lungs. By July it had grown further and surgery was no longer an option.
Since August he has been on chemotherapy every two weeks, with a targeted drug added in September. He is getting on with it. The next scan in November will show whether the treatment is working.
My dad's wife Sarah has been there through all of it.
For Mum
I'm running it for my mum.
My mum, Celestina, was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in May 2025. She died on 10 June 2026, thirteen months later. She was 71.
MND attacks the nerves that tell the muscles what to do. Over those months she lost the use of her body a piece at a time, and she spent the last seven of them in a nursing home in Southport.
She was not someone who sat still. She trained as a nurse, worked as an aromatherapist and a hotel receptionist, and founded the charity MAMA, Mothers Against Murder and Aggression, in the early 1990s after the James Bulger case. It later became Parenting 2000.
She wrote plays and books, walked everywhere she could, and spent her later years dancing with her friends.
There is no cure for MND. The treatments available only slow it down, and for her there was no slow.
Mum's friends and family went above and beyond for her.
Every pound goes to Cancer Research UK, the MND Association and Rosemere Cancer Foundation, who fund the research and the support that people like my dad and families like ours depend on. Rosemere is especially close to us because Dad's oncologist is there.
If you can give, thank you. If you can't, sharing this does just as much.
For Mum, in her memory.
For Dad, who is still fighting.
Where the money goes
Three causes. One combined target of £1,250.
Each donation goes directly through the charity page you choose. The figures below are targets, not live totals.
- 01
Primary page
Cancer Research UK
£550 target
Dad's page. He was diagnosed with bowel cancer in June 2025. I'm also inspired by Dame Deborah James and the Bowelbabe Fund, which is part of Cancer Research UK.
Donate to Cancer Research UK - 02
MND Association
£350 target
Mum's page, in memory of Celestina. The MND Association funds research into motor neurone disease and supports families facing it.
Donate to MND Association - 03
Rosemere Cancer Foundation
£350 target
A local connection to Dad's care. He is being treated for bowel cancer at the hospital in Chorley, and Rosemere helped fund its chemotherapy unit.
Donate to Rosemere
Close to home
Research matters. So does the care happening now.
Rosemere supports cancer care and equipment at hospitals across Lancashire. That makes this part of the campaign very real for us.
The challenge
The race
- Race
- Brighton Marathon
- Distance
- 26.2 miles
- Date
- Sunday 4 April 2027
- Entry
- My own confirmed place
The road to Brighton
Training
I'll add the miles, hard sessions, small wins and race-day build-up here as training develops.
My Cancer Research UK page already carries my training updates.
Mum and Dad
Family photos
Thank you for reading, donating or sharing this. It means a lot. x
Donate
Three pages. Pick the cause that fits.
All three fundraising pages are live. Donations are handled by the charities themselves.