Marathon runner: "I want everyone to survive a brain tumour"

A passionate Southampton Fresher is running the London Marathon this Sunday in honour of her brave father.

Determined Geography student, Lucy Henderson Slater, is running the London Marathon on the 26th April in aid of the Brain Tumour Charity.

Lucy all smiles and training hard

When she was younger, Lucy’s dad promised that they would run the marathon together when she turned 18.

Now 20, Lucy is running it by herself this Sunday, as her dad, following two brain tumours, has been advised not to take part. Lucy told us:

I would definitely have loved to be running with my Dad- I’m sure it would be easier with him. But he’s been so supportive and he’s coming down early with me to cheer me all along the way!

The Brain Tumour Charity estimate that 25 people every day are diagnosed with brain tumours, and 5,000 people subsequently lose their lives every year.

Approximately 14 years after his first tumour, Lucy’s dad is healthy and ready to support her marathon run, with his benign second tumour having been successfully removed three years ago.

The charity is therefore very close to Lucy’s heart and she expresses how important the research and support is to families in similar situations to her own:

It was a really tough time during his illness, but I was so inspired by the way he recovered – it was something for me to really look up to.

This is Lucy’s first long distance race, and training has been tough. The background work that goes into getting through a 26.2 mile race is not only tiring and sometimes painful, but also more time-consuming than Lucy realised.

Training runs can take up the best part of a day, and for those who aren’t used to the mileage, the impact can be stressful on the body.

But with less than a week to go, Lucy is feeling healthier for the training and ready to do the run, which starts in Greenwich Park and finishes at St James’s Park.

Lucy’s fundraising is going well, with approximately 50% of her £2500 target raised so far. Although she’s hoping to pull in some more funds from activities such as bag-packing at local supermarkets, extra help definitely wouldn’t go amiss. She told us:

I’ll be running the London Marathon for The Brain Tumour Charity because I want everyone to survive a brain tumour.

This is the heartfelt tagline on Lucy’s JustGiving page, where donations will be accepted even up to two weeks after the marathon.

While London will be heaving with runners and non-runners alike, many students will still be in bed for the marathon’s 10am start.

Although Sunday is traditionally the day for being even less productive than the rest of the week, it’s a given that many of you will find your way to a TV or a laptop at some point during the day.

Between BBC One and Two, the London Marathon will be covered on TV from 8:30am-2:30pm this Sunday 26th April, so you can still support all the runners from the comfort of your own nest.

You can make a donation to Lucy’s good cause here. The Soton Tab wishes Lucy and everyone else running in the marathon on Sunday good luck!