Hello everyone,

In April 2025 I’ll be running the London Marathon for Guts UK.

Guts UK is the only UK charity funding research into the digestive system from top to tail; the gut, liver and pancreas. Their active research into acute pancreatitis and bile duct cancer is something particularly close to my heart.

In December 2021, my cousin Sally lost her battle to bile duct cancer, also known as cholangiocarcinoma. In the UK, 2.2 per 100,000 people are diagnosed with this extremely rare disease. It is a condition that Guts UK would like to fund research in the future, and if presented with a potential project by researchers, they would love to cover this.

In December 2023, my amazing girlfriend, Ellie, lost her wonderful mum, Sue, to Acute Pancreatitis. A condition that has been under funded and under researched for decades yet can kill 1 in 4 of those diagnosed. There is poor understanding of why Acute Pancreatitis affects different people in such different ways, and little in the way of treatment to stop the progression of the disease once it’s been diagnosed.

Guts UK are currently the only UK charity funding a research fellowship into pancreatitis. Their Amelie Waring fellowship has been in place since 1981 and aims to develop studies in the incredibly under-researched area of pancreatitis, to bring about life-changing research for those impacted by the condition. This is a 3 year research project for those who have recently been awarded their PhD.

Dr Arjun Kattakayam and his team are looking into the damage to the mitochondria that occurs in pancreatitis, and if protecting the cells from damage can reduce the severity of the disease as well as the damage to the pancreas itself.

For these reasons, I have chosen to run for Guts UK.

Any donations and support, however small would mean so much and would go a long way in helping Guts UK fighting all digestive disorders.

See you on the finish line.

Will