My Story

The London Marathon in 2026 will be my first, and likely only, marathon. I'm a keen runner but not exactly a natural talent, and given the unfortunate fate of the first person to run from Marathon to Athens, 26.2 miles always felt like an overly ambitious target for me, and one likely to do more damage than good. If I was ever going to run one, I'd need an exceptionally good reason.

In early 2025 my son was hospitalised with pneumonia. What had seemed like a classic case of bronchiolitis hadn't gotten better, and his condition was starting to deteriorate. We took him into the Whittington Hospital and the treatment he received was first class. The doctors, nurses and staff understood the gravity of the situation without ever unduly alarming us or panicking, and were relentless in finding the right combination of treatments and oxygen for his condition to improve. Tests later showed he had several other viruses as well pneumonia, and he showed such strong spirit to pull through. But we undoubtedly have the Whittington to thank for the fantastic care he received over the course of nearly a week in hospital.

Chastened and unbelievably thankful, one small side-effect of the experience was that I'd found a motivating purpose to run a marathon and raise money for Whittington Health Charity, the dedicated charity for Whittington Health NHS Trust. Their aim is to enhance experiences for patients and staff at the Trust by funding transformational projects, including upgrading the children's ward, to give the fantastic staff there the facilities to match the amazing care they give. It's likely that 26.2 miles remains an overly ambitious target for me, but it seems like the least I could do, and frankly, it's a tiny drop in the ocean of appreciation that I have for the care they gave my son.

Thank you for reading, and for your support. You can read more about the Whittington Health Charity's projects here