London Marathon runners show their spirit for Brain Tumour Support

4 May 2025 | Fundraising, News, Supporters

After the anticipation and excitement of last Sunday’s TCS London Marathon on 27 April, we want to celebrate our wonderful #TeamBrainTumourSupport runners who inspired us with their passion and determination, raising vital funds in the process.

Sarah, Joel and Darren shared their feelings about the experience of taking part in the 2025 event – now officially the largest marathon ever.

Sarah’s first marathon

For Sarah Davis, this was her first-ever marathon, and when she got the opportunity to sign up, she was determined to make the most of it. The marathon was one of the biggest challenges on her ’40th year bucket list’, but she also wanted to do something meaningful for others, and as a brain tumour survivor herself, that motivation was really important.

Sarah explained afterwards, ‘I went in so naively. I did not understand the task I was taking on….For the first 10 miles, I felt like I had this in the bag despite the sun. Then, my allergies had different plans, and I could barely breathe, but I had the best support team in the world.’ Running with ‘two incredible ladies’, Alexandra and Coleen, Sarah had reassurance to keep going, as well as a playlist with messages of encouragement – plus friends and her two children cheering her on the sideline.

After crossing the finish line, she summed it up as ‘Overwhelming, humbling and challenging experience.’ And she pointed out, she wasn’t just running for herself. ‘I ran for an incredible charity. They are only small, but are doing mighty things for those diagnosed with brain tumours. I know firsthand how it feels to hear the doctor say you have a tumour on your brain. So, I ran for my cousin Leticia and my uncle Allan, as well as many who are and have been affected.’

Read Sarah and Leticia’s stories here and donate to Sarah’s fundraiser.

Joel’s marathon schedule

TV presenter and comedian Joel Dommett, our long-standing supporter and charity ambassador, set out on a hugely ambitious schedule. Not only had he set himself a personal challenge to run the course in under three hours, but his busy work schedule meant that he was running in London only hours after finishing a live show in Leeds on Saturday night, and a few hours ahead of scheduled filming early Sunday evening.

However, with hot conditions on Sunday, Joel explained it was ‘Not the race I expected! I fainted at mile 17 – don’t really remember much, but I woke up in an ambulance!’ He shared a picture of the paramedics who looked after him, saying, Thanks to Frankie and Barry for being amazing.’

Joel was determined to complete the course: ‘I really wanted to finish it. After a few hours, my pulse was back, and I got going again, at a very different pace but really got to soak it all in. Proud of myself for finishing.’

That pride was felt by the charity team too, with Brain Tumour Support’s CEO, Emma McKeown, saying, ‘We know just how disappointed Joel must have felt not to achieve his sub-3 challenge. But we are beyond proud of his determination to get back and complete the course. That resilience and spirit to not give up when life suddenly changes under you is something we see every day in the incredible individuals and families that we support, so Joel’s achievement yesterday has great resonance for the brain tumour community.’

You can still donate to Joel’s fundraiser here.

Darren’s triple marathon challenge

Darren Hardwick started his running with Couch to 5K five years ago, and already has several marathons behind him. However, London has made a particular impression on him, expressing afterwards, ‘OMG what an incredible experience! London was my tenth Marathon, but it will be the one I remember the most. It felt like the whole of London came out to cheer us on; the sound was deafening at times and kept me going. Amazing support and such an iconic route.

‘It was such a hot day, I was on my normal pace for under 4hrs 30 until mile 14 when I decided to back off, enjoy the run and the party atmosphere, and I finished in 4hrs 47.’

However, Darren’s London Marathon is just the first leg of an epic three-marathon challenge, as he is now about to ride his motorbike to run the Copenhagen Marathon on May 11 and then move on to the Helsinki City Marathon on May 17. His motivation for this extraordinary adventure is Shaun, who became a good friend with Darren and a great encouragement when he was starting to run. Shaun has since had to give up running due to the residual impact of a childhood brain tumour diagnosis, but Darren took much inspiration from him and says, ‘Now I want to raise funds to help the charity which has given him such great support.’

Read more about Darren’s marathon challenge across three countries and donate to his fundraiser.

We would also like to thank Ryan Grigg for his determined run and fantastic fundraising. It was an exciting and inspiring day to see the achievement and spirit of all our runners, and our congratulations go out to each of them.

If you have been inspired by our runners in this year’s London Marathon and have a passion and commitment to run and raise funds for Brain Tumour Support in 2026, you have an opportunity by applying for one of the 12 gold bond places that we have available.

Or take on a different challenge or fundraising event to help us support more patients and families affected by brain tumours. Discover more ways to get involved here or contact our fundraising team.