Grace Adams inspired to take on Great Birmingham Run following father’s diagnosis
Grace’s father was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia (CLL) in 2018
In just 100 days, the London Marathon is back!
The streets will be lined along the entire 26.2 mile course to keep all 58,000 runners motivated with a carnival-like atmosphere throughout the day.
Amongst that crowd will be Tony Hobday, who will be representing the pink of Cure Leukaemia as he joins a team of eight other runners who will form #TeamCL for the event. We recently caught up with Tony ahead of the big day in April to hear how his preparations are going.
Tony has a close friend who’s daughter has unfortunately been battling leukaemia and recently relapsed for a third time.
“Cassidy Badland, who is only 17 years old, has spent the majority of her childhood battling leukaemia.”
“I often hear about other people that she has met along her journey. I am now a father of 2 children and could not imagine being in this situation. Cassidy has been fortunate enough to have been selected for Car-T cell therapy this time around, and we are hopeful that this will be successful. However I would love to be able to do my part and raise money for a charity that is pioneering clinical trials to try and cure leukaemia, and prevent this disease from ruining others lives.”
Tony has been joined on his training runs by his two young boys.
He is currently on week 9 of a 24-week training plan to help him prepare for the marathon.
“I must say I am thoroughly enjoying the training so far and the challenge has kept me feeling fresh through the festive period. I am enjoying it so much that I have this week registered my interest for the New York marathon in November, as it’s a great charity close to our hearts.”
Tony has been motivated along the way by some of the generous donations that he has received so far and has just been told that his employers, Tata Motors, will match-fund his final total and has pushed him to want to raise even more money.
“I have been encouraged by friends and family who have taken turns to join me on many runs. Even my two young boys join me for the first Km when they can!”
“The progression I am seeing in my pace and ability to push myself to run further every week fills me with positivity and to be honest the cold weather hasn’t been too bad it is more the dark nights that limit the hours in which I can run.”
