Sarah A

I’m running the London Marathon 2027 to fight for lung health!

A year from now, I’ll be standing on the start line of the London Marathon – something I’ve talked about doing since I was a kid but never genuinely thought I’d do.

For years it was always, “One day I’d love to run the London Marathon.” It felt like one of those things that would always stay on a bucket list rather than actually happen. Now it has a date, and over the next year I’ll be doing everything I can to get to that start line and, hopefully, the finish.

The truth is, I’m not a lifelong runner. I haven’t run properly since my teens and, even then, I was a sprinter. Ask me to run 200 metres and I was happy; ask me to run any further and you’d get a very different answer.

Now, at 35, I’ve started again from scratch. I recently finished a beginner programme and can now run 5k. To be honest, I’ve enjoyed it more than I expected. There’s still a long way to go between 5k and 26.2 miles, but each run feels like another step towards getting there.

I’m running this marathon in memory of my nan, Phyllis.

My nan was one of the warmest, kindest and most loving people you could ever meet. She was simply made to be a nan. She would sit and play with us for hours when we were children, usually long after we’d lost interest ourselves. She had a brilliant sense of humour, loved a laugh, and had a way of making everyone feel welcome.

Nothing made her prouder than seeing her family doing well, whether that was at school, in sport, at university or in work. She was always our biggest supporter.

She loved family days out and being part of everything we did. Even in her seventies, she’d be climbing Moel Famau with us wearing her little nanna heels, smart trousers and blouse, looking as though she was heading out for lunch rather than up a Welsh hill.

Sadly, in later life her health changed dramatically. She lived with COPD and suffered multiple collapsed lungs, eventually needing oxygen 24 hours a day. As her condition worsened, she became less confident leaving the house, worried about using her oxygen in public in case something went wrong. Watching someone so independent and full of life become limited by her lung condition was incredibly difficult.

That’s why I’m running for Asthma + Lung UK.

The charity supports people living with lung conditions, funds vital research, and helps families affected by respiratory illness. Their work makes a real difference to people facing the same challenges that my nan did.

For me, this marathon isn’t about a finish time. It’s about doing something I’ve wanted to do for years, raising money for a cause that means a lot to me and my family, and seeing it through to the end.

Over the next year I’ll be training, learning as I go, struggling through some runs, enjoying others, and probably complaining about the long ones more than once. I’ll share the journey as honestly as I can along the way.

If you’re able to donate, thank you. Every contribution will help Asthma + Lung UK continue their work supporting people living with lung conditions and funding research into better treatments.

Thank you for reading and for supporting me in any way you can.

It means more than I can properly put into words.