More than 700 runners will be running in this year’s London Marathon on behalf of Pancreatic Cancer UK (PCUK), the marathon’s Charity of the Year partner, to raise awareness and funding for early detection research.
PCUK hopes to raise more than £2million in donations and increase awareness of the impact and symptoms of the disease, as more than half of those diagnosed with the condition die within three months.
Katherine Free, 39, Research Communications Manager at PCUK, expressed her excitement about the partnership and explained how it should bring much needed attention to this type of cancer.
She said: “It could be one of the most important days ever for pancreatic cancer.
“Pancreatic cancer has been overlooked for such a long time and we really need to bring it to the forefront.
“We’re really lucky to have this opportunity at the London Marathon this year.”
Prior to the marathon on April 27, PCUK set up the Shoes for Hope display by Tower Bridge, the halfway point of the 26.2 mile course, which featured 797 pairs of trainers to represent the number of people in the UK who die from pancreatic cancer every month.
Each pair was provided by someone who lost a loved one to the disease and featured a note describing who the shoes were dedicated to.
The donors included marathon participants such as Emmerdale’s Tony Audenshaw, a 14-time London Marathon runner who lost his wife Ruth in 2017.
For many of those involved, it was an emotional and powerful experience.
Rebecca Cox, 32, donated her first running shoes to honour her father who died from pancreatic cancer in November 2022.
“Seeing all the dedications there really makes it real.
“These are brothers, sisters, mothers, dads – real life people who have been impacted by it.
“Seeing that as such a powerful visual representation was heartbreaking and so powerful.”
The London Marathon will be Cox’s 100th ever run.
She said: “I’ve gone from absolutely nothing to running a marathon in 100 runs.”
She took up running in August 2024 after winning a bid for the PCUK team.
Similar to others, Cox described her father’s initial cancer diagnosis, which occurred after he experienced stomach pain, as coming out of the blue because he was really healthy and fit.
The cancer progressed quickly and Cox’s father died a month plus one day after his diagnosis.
Photo credit: PinPep
Elaine McConkey, 51, another first-time runner who donated shoes to the display, shared a similar story about her husband who died within seven weeks of his diagnosis in 2023.
She said: “Seven weeks is not enough time to even wrap your head around a diagnosis, let alone try to do anything.”
McConkey’s husband, Jack, ran marathons in high school and college, and would tell her that she was built for distance running, despite her never being a runner.
She started running last spring, and will be participating in Jack’s honour.
She said: “It will prove to me that I can do it.
“I think there will be a lot of catharsis at the end.
“I hope that my husband would be happy with whatever time I run it in – I know that he would.
“It doesn’t matter if I come one minute under the cut off, he’d still be proud of me.”
Both Cox and McConkey hope their runs will bring much needed awareness to pancreatic cancer, which is the deadliest common cancer, and its common symptoms such as weight loss, indigestion, back and stomach pain.
As such, pancreatic cancer is often diagnosed in late stages, contributing to the short time frame between diagnosis and death, with Free citing a supporter who lost her father less than a week after his diagnosis.
PCUK is using the marathon sponsorship money to fund research for their early-detection breath test, which could help GPs to identify whether someone with one of these common symptoms has cancer or something less serious.
This would help people with pancreatic cancer get diagnostic scans earlier and improve their chances of survival.
McConkey said: “That’s all people want is a bit more time to try to treat it or deal with it mentally, and get things in order.”
The PCUK research team, which includes three runners in the marathon, hope to have the test available within five years.
They are also currently campaigning for a £35million government investment in pancreatic cancer over the next 30 years.
Free said: “Because we can do only so much, we really need to work with governments as well to make this test a reality.”
In the meantime, they have cultivated a supportive environment and excited community of runners.
McConkey said: “Being around other people who have dealt with it helps in some way.”
Cox, who has now developed a love for running, said: “It’s an incredible thing that we are all part of, but it is part of a club that no one really wants to be a part of.
“No one really wants to be here because ultimately we have lost really close loved ones.
“But out of it we are trying to do something really positive.”
Free added: “This is the biggest team we ever had, and it’s just going to be amazing. So much purple, so much cheering on the day.
“It’s going to be incredible.”
Featured Image: Pancreatic Cancer UK’s Shoes for Hope display featured almost 800 pairs of trainers. Photo credit: PinPep
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