FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Meet some of the inspiring participants getting ready
for 2021 Virgin Money London Marathon
Every year thousands of participants complete the Virgin Money London
Marathon for their own personal reasons - to achieve a personal best time,
to challenge themselves, to tick it off their bucket list, and to raise
money and awareness for charitable causes close to their hearts. And this
year is no different.
On Sunday 3 October, the Virgin Money London Marathon will return to its
iconic central London course for the first time in 889 days after last
being held there in April 2019. Our campaign, We Run Together, celebrates
the determination, dedication and perseverance of the many thousands of
people who have waited 18 long months to get to the Start Line on Sunday 3
October.
Here is a selection of inspiring stories from some of this year's
participants:
Louise Bartha, 47, from Brighton
Mum-of-two Louise was first diagnosed with melanoma in 2016, followed by
basal cell carcinoma two years later, and a lung cancer diagnosis in early
2019. Previously a fit non-smoker, Louise had a lung resection and then
half her left lung removed. She credits running for helping her through her
recovery and will be running the Virgin Money London Marathon for the first
time in 2021, supporting this year's Charity of the Year Macmillan. Louise
and her family have been supported throughout all of her diagnoses by
Macmillan and she is now a volunteer at their Horizon Centre in Brighton,
where she received counselling throughout her treatment.
Elliott Brock, 42, from Essex
The father-of-two will be running the 2021 Virgin Money London Marathon
alongside a woman whose life he saved 13 years ago. Elliott was 29 when he
donated bone marrow to an eight-year-old stranger called Vicky Lawrence,
who had an aggressive form of bone cancer. Fast-forward to 2021, and Vicky
has made a full recovery and is now a medical student and a good friend of
the man who saved her life. The pair will be running the Virgin Money
London Marathon alongside one another to raise money for the Anthony Nolan
blood cancer charity.
Adam Batterham, 42, from Fife
Army veteran Adam is taking on the Virgin Money London Marathon for SSAFA -
the Armed Forces Charity. A chef in the Royal Logistic Corps for 15 years,
Adam completed four operational tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, but has
since suffered with post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health
conditions. He attempted suicide twice in 2020 and SSAFA were there to
support him back to good mental health. They helped secure him a place on
their 'Building for Heroes' construction building maintenance course, as
well as providing financial aid when he and his wife, Jackie, relocated to
Scotland in 2019. Jackie served in the Royal Navy for eight years and last
year suffered two minor heart attacks. All this meant 2020 was a tough year
for Adam and running the Virgin Money London Marathon is his way of saying
thank you to SSAFA and showing that anything is possible.
Alistair Douglass, 40, from Edinburgh
After three unsuccessful rounds of IVF, Alistair and his wife, Jo, were
excited when she became pregnant with a baby boy. After what had been a
straightforward pregnancy for 41 weeks, the couple were devastated when
their son, Hope, was delivered stillborn in September 2020. The Scottish
couple have raised more than £65,000 in his memory and Alistair will run
his first-ever Virgin Money London Marathon for SiMBA, a charity that
honours babies who have died, been stillborn or miscarried.
Robin Gogoi, 43, from Oxford
Robin was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in early 2021 and has credited his
new-found love of running as helping to turn his diagnosis around. After
becoming a father in late 2020, Robin was shocked to be told by doctors he
had to take regular medication and monitor his blood glucose levels to
treat the diabetes. He soon started running and, with the help of
medication, his diabetes is now in remission. He runs between 40K and 50K a
week on the country trails of Oxford with his dogs and is now looking
forward to running the Virgin Money London Marathon for the first time with
his young son and wife cheering him on.
Anja Madhvani, 31, from Leeds
In 2018 Anja was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), a contagious
airborne disease, after completing the Marathon Des Sables. Anja spent 11
days in isolation and took many months to get better, both physically and
mentally. Now fully recovered, she has been able to run again and is
looking forward to completing the Virgin Money London Marathon for the
charity TB Alert, which has been working to help fight the Covid-19
pandemic in the UK and India, using its expertise in the transmission of
airborne diseases to support communities affected by both Covid-19 and TB.
Eleanor Mahmoud, 31, from London
Londoner Eleanor is running her first Virgin Money London Marathon for
Neuroblastoma UK in memory of her brother, Neil. He died aged 14, a year
before Eleanor was born, and would have turned 45 this year. She has loved
training for her debut Virgin Money London Marathon and has documented her
training throughout on @chasingele on Instagram. She is also one of the
featured participants in the We Run Together campaign film.
Claire Nash & Wayne Flanagan, both 34, from London
Claire and Wayne are running in memory of their daughter, Jade, who died in
January 2021, aged just 10 days old. Jade, named after the midwife who
delivered her, suffered Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE) during
childbirth, an event that resulted in significant brain damage caused by
oxygen deprivation and limited blood flow to her brain. Wayne was unable to
be present at the birth as both Claire and Wayne had tested positive for
Covid-19 three days before their daughter was born.
The couple are raising money for three organisations that helped care for
Jade - Demelza Hospice Care for Children, Evelina London Children's
Hospital and Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust Charity.
Rajinder Singh, 74, from Slough
Rajinder Singh, the 'Skipping Sikh', was awarded an MBE for his services to
health and fitness during the Covid-19 pandemic after raising more than
£14,000 for the NHS by sharing videos of himself skipping on social media
to encourage others to keep active during lockdown. This will be his first
Virgin Money London Marathon and he is raising money for Mencap.
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