Spotlight on our London Marathon 2025 Runners

“Dominic is getting stronger and stronger every day, and it’s amazing to watch him pick things back up that he has wanted to do for so long but was unable to do so. He’s now riding a bike, swimming and most of all, in the garden booting the ball around (and breaking fences!) with his brothers.

“He’s been so brave through it all and seeing him ring the bell at the hospital after his final treatment was a special moment for our family. 

“Before this, I was a reasonable runner, but a marathon is a lot bigger than anything I’ve ever done before. But the money raised is so important and will go towards helping other families who find themselves in this heartbreaking situation.” David

To prepare for the London Marathon 2025, David, who is also dad to Tess, James and Dominic’s twin, Rex, has been getting up at dawn to complete tough training sessions that can take him away from home for hours at a time. Wife Helen, who last year completed a 50 mile fundraising walk for the Charity, raising an incredible £20,000, is confident that after putting in the hard work, he will make it round. She said:

“I’ve told him it’s an achievement to get over the finish line. I think he’d quite like to do it in a certain time, but that’s not important. It’s just about finishing it and doing everybody proud. We’re already very proud of him, but we can’t wait to see him cross the finish. We’ll be there to cheer him on!”

Barbara Prodger, from Worcester, has raised over £20,000 for the Charity after losing son Harley, 26, to an undiagnosed brain tumour on Mother’s Day last year.

Even before the shock of Harley’s death from an undiagnosed tumour, brain tumours had left their mark on Barbara’s family. In a cruel coincidence, Barbara also lost her mother to an undiagnosed meningioma, at just 37.

A postmortem showed that Harley, who had seemed perfectly healthy and enjoyed going to the gym five days a week, had a bleed on the brain and an undetected glioma brain tumour. He had not complained of any symptoms.  

Barbara said: “It caught us all off guard. All the family got together for Mother’s Day lunch. We had a lovely time and then I gave him a lift to Worcester so he could get his car. He said he was going to the gym for a few hours and would then be back home to do some batch cooking for the rest of the week. But he didn’t come home.”  

Running the marathon is just one way Barbara has been raising funds in her local community, at the same time calling for more research into brain tumours to prevent future tragedies.

“Fundraising is giving me a purpose and a way to cope with my grief. I’m pushing on for Harley. He was a bright man, a Finance Manager who had just had a mortgage approved to move into his own home. He had everything going for him and I’m incredibly proud that I had a son who was so well-loved. The turn out at his funeral was huge and testament to his character. It was such a privilege to be his mum.” 

Alexander Bernard-Bell, brother of Alex’s fiancée, Hannah, was diagnosed with a rare form of paediatric brain tumour in October 2021, aged 20, after suffering from persistent migraines, and papilloedema – swelling of the optic nerve – which caused the loss of sight in his right eye. His diagnosis with Diffuse Leptomeningeal Glioneuronal Tumour – DLGNT – a condition that causes diffuse tumours, was so rare that his oncologist had never heard of it. Intensive research was needed to find a suitable drug for Alexander to start treatment.

Alexander, a talented musician, became a Young Ambassador for The Brain Tumour Charity along with his sister Hannah, wanting to help others dealing with a brain tumour diagnosis. But in summer 2024, his condition worsened and he was admitted to intensive care at Charing Cross Hospital, where he stayed for 178 days. During this time, he underwent 4 major brain surgeries. Alexander died at the end of January as no further treatment was available.

Alex, whose wedding to Hannah is the day before the marathon, had run no further than 10k before this year. He set himself the challenge of running two marathons this year, and completed the first in January. He said:

“With our wedding the day before, and then the marathon, it is going to be a very emotional weekend!

“Training has been pretty tough, lots of early starts in the freezing rain and trying my best to fit in my runs, either on the way to the hospital to visit Alexander, or on the way to work. 

“I have now started to feel the training paying off, I’m feeling much stronger and actually even enjoying them! I’ve transitioned from, “Let’s just get through the marathon” to now wanting to achieve a good time! I might even be tempted to sign up for more marathons in the years to come.”

Alex’s fiancée, Young Ambassador Hannah, will be cheering for him on Race Day. She said:

“Alexander had a wicked sense of style, a deep emotional intelligence, and an incredible gift for music. He was gentle, funny, and endlessly selfless, even through the hardest times. He brought so much love and light into our lives, and I miss him every single day. 

“For us, raising funds and awareness isn’t just important, it’s deeply personal. We’ve experienced the devastation of brain tumours first-hand. No family should have to go through what ours did.

Last year, Dawn Michelin, from Devon, ran 10 miles a day for a whole year.  This month, she’s running the London Marathon 2025.

Dawn, 49, landlady of the Horse and Groom in Bittaford, Ivybridge, never thought she’d be a runner. She suffers from an inflammatory condition that causes chronic pain.

But brain tumours have had a huge impact on Dawn’s family. As well as her dad, who died of a glioblastoma in 2014, she also lost her best friend Hazel, and two other family members to brain tumours – her cousin Andrew, and grandad James. So she’s taking on the marathon to remember them, and celebrate a big birthday of her own:

“Last year was the tenth anniversary of Dad’s passing. This year, it’s five years since Hazel died. When you’ve lost a good friend who was part of your life for over forty years – it leaves a big hole in your life, and your heart.

“When The Brain Tumour Charity offered me a place in the London Marathon, it was a total privilege to accept. It’s the best way to remember Hazel and my dad – and celebrate being fifty!”

Dawn is no stranger to heroic fundraising challenges. In addition to her ten miles a day challenge last year (it was a leap year – so Dawn ran ten miles a day for 366 days straight!) –  in 2020 she walked an incredible eight million steps to raise funds for the charity, and shine a light on brain tumours.  But the 26.2 miles of the marathon might be her toughest task yet.

Chloe Sales, from Kent, is running in support of her husband Luke, who was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2020.

Chloe and Luke, from Aylesford, were shocked when Luke was diagnosed with a brain tumour in January 2020. Just weeks before, Chloe persuaded Luke to go to the doctor when, seemingly out of the blue, he couldn’t get his words out. Otherwise fit and healthy, this was his only indication that something might be wrong. Learning that Luke had a  brain tumour – a pilocytic astrocytoma – was the last thing the couple were expecting.

Luke, now 34, had surgery to remove the tumour in March 2020, narrowly missing the first Covid lockdown. All of it was able to be removed, and, happily, he is well on his way to full recovery. He has scans every six months to monitor his condition.

Although Chloe, 33, has run a half marathon before – taking on last year’s London Landmarks Half Marathon to raise money for the Charity – this will be her first attempt at the daunting marathon distance.

“I’ve done other charity runs, and climbed Mount Snowdon, but I wanted to really challenge myself physically this time. After doing a half marathon, the full marathon distance was the next step!

“Luke has been lucky to make a good recovery. He does get dizzy episodes and he has Vertigo, but he’s doing really well.

“People don’t always see the after effects of a diagnosis like this. They often think, “Once it’s gone, it’s gone” – and that’s not always the case.

“I just don’t think there’s enough awareness of brain tumours. I want to raise funds to help other families going through the same situation we went through.”

Training is going well, although Chloe has had to contend with her fair share of niggles. Another challenge has been finding the time to dedicate to the hours of training required.

“Finding time to properly train has been tough, because it’s not a case of, oh, you can go in the gym for 45 minutes and you’re done. You could be running for four hours, depending how long it takes you. So I’ve been having to give up a bit of time with my son and my husband. I’m looking forward to them cheering me on, though!

“I’m just looking forward to completing it now, and getting across that finish line.

“And I’m really looking forward to soaking up the atmosphere on the day, because when I did my last half marathon in London, the atmosphere was brilliant.

“I’ve told myself it will be ok as long as I can run for 20 miles, and if I have to walk the 6 at the end, so be it. But I want to run it if I can!”