Put simply, I have chosen to support the British Lung Foundation in memory of my beloved Dad, David Jimmeson, who died from lung cancer.

I have enjoyed running as a hobby since 2005 and ran my first race as a 5km Race for Life, raising money for breast cancer. Having a challenge to complete each year since has been important to me because I find that it’s a huge motivator for me to keep running and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Running is a time when I can be free and enjoy the beautiful outdoors; mentally, I find it really beneficial. My Dad always supported me in any challenge race that I entered, always being there at the finish line to cheer me on and he never failed to always comment that I was ‘mad’ to do so much running! I ran my first marathon last year: the Manchester Marathon and my Dad came along to support me, despite the fact that he was struggling at the time with his health. It was only a few weeks later that we found out that he had stage 4 lung cancer, which had spread to other parts of his body. It all happened very quickly and tragically Dad died just 12 weeks after his diagnosis. 

My Dad was a fighter and never gave up on anything. I know that he will be watching over me as I hopefully take on the challenge of running the London Marathon in 2021, probably chuckling to himself about it all!

The club has recognised that the charity means a lot to me and my good friend Sarah, having lost our Dads at a very similar time last year, both from lung conditions. Together, we feel that we will be able to support each other throughout the process of training for the marathon and other running challenges. Knowing that I have a friend, who totally understands the emotions I’ll be experiencing because she’s likely to be having them herself, means a tremendous amount and I can’t wait for it all to begin.

Lastly, the fact that the British Lung Foundation has now partnered with Asthma UK is also significant for me; my husband Scott, suffers with chronic asthma and has done so since childhood. I applied a few years ago to run the London Marathon to raise funds for Asthma UK as the charity is close to our hearts, however, I was unsuccessful in my application and so to run next year for BLF will make this dream come true.

I suspect that no one knows what running races are going to look like in the future and what the impact of COVID-19 is going to be on such events, but what I do know is that I will put my heart and soul into raising as much money as possible for the British Lung Foundation as well as much needed awareness, all in loving memory of my Dad.