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Before I had colon surgery in September 2024, I had two questions: When can I eat normally? And when can I run again? 

Just over a month earlier, a routine trip to the GP had discovered some abnormalities which were later found to be the result of a cancerous tumour in my intestine. It was a huge shock to the system.  

Prior to this news I was pretty healthy, regularly running three or four times a week, usually with Rock N Road Runners, plus going to the gym and playing football. I’d run eight marathons and 14 ultramarathons – this kind of thing wasn’t supposed to happen to people like me, was it? 

Following successful surgery, I was immediately transferred onto a course of aggressive chemotherapy. It looked like my running days would have to wait until, at the beginning of December, I was handed a lifeline. 

Dare To Dash and Dream 

Ever since moving to Jersey nearly nine years ago, I have admired Jersey Zoo, or Durrell, as I’d always known it, and the people that work there. 

To have a place like that on an island the size of Jersey was just amazing to me, especially as I’d grown up disliking traditional zoos for their treatment of animals. As I got to know the Durrell team more and more through my work, I continued to be impressed by the mission to save species from extinction.

Maybe it was my own very, very fleeting brush with thoughts of mortality but when I was offered the chance to run in the annual Durrell Dash at the beginning of December, I actually cried at being able to. And as I slogged my way around the roads of Trinity on race day next alongside friends, I felt such an amazing sense of relief and pride and happiness that I was able to do something I loved. 

So, when the opportunity to run the London Marathon for Durrell was offered to me, it didn’t take a second to know my answer. 

The Most Positive Place on Earth 

Durrell kindly let me also raise money for Friends of Jersey Oncology but with only two months to train, it was always going to be tough to get to the start line in any shape. 

I needn’t have worried. If positive vibes were energy, the London Marathon would be rocket fuel. 

From the first steps away from Blackheath to the last in front of Buckingham Palace, I was cheered through the streets of London with such ferocity that I was carried forward, regardless of how I felt.  

Whenever I tired, a stranger would be there to shout my name, emblazoned on my bright green top, and push me onward. The noise was incredible, the sights unbelievable, and the spirit between runners and crowd unmatchable. 

It gives me goosebumps now remembering tiny moments of strength I shared with people I’ll never meet again.  

I feel lucky to have made it to the start, humbled to have been able to finish, and proud to have represented Durrell and Jersey in such an inspiring event.