We're delighted to have several people taking on the 2026 London Marathon to raise money for our charity, who are currently hard at work training for the gruelling event. We spoke to four of our runners, whose connections with our hospitals inspired them to give something back.

Connor's story

I’m lucky enough to have the chance to run the London Marathon for Imperial Health Charity, and I’m over the moon to say the least.

I feel surreal about the big day, having seen people complete it; it doesn’t feel real that I'll be doing it myself. 

My grandad, who was truly a father figure, was in St Mary's Hospital for over one month. The facilities, along with the support, love and care the nurses gave him, were too good to be true.

It’s been four years since he passed, and I turned 30 in February, so hand in hand, I saw it as a fantastic chance to turn a negative into a positive; a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, running the London marathon while raising funds for a cause that’s close to my heart, which I’ve seen the work of first-hand.  

Carmen's story

Our twins, Jude and Lara, were born in September 2023 at just 24 weeks and spent 132 days in the NICU at Queen Charlotte's & Chelsea Hospital.

Their journey was far from easy, but we feel unbelievably lucky that they are now thriving, with no long-term disabilities. We brought them home in February 2024, and they have since met all their developmental milestones. Earlier this year, they were officially discharged from neonatal care.

Although our time in NICU was incredibly stressful, we will always be grateful for the extraordinary team that cared for them. Their dedication, compassion and expertise changed our lives forever.

To give something back, I’ll be running the London Marathon, and we would love to fund a twin cot for the unit that cared for our children.

It wasn’t until early December, over two and a half months after they were born, that Jude and Lara were finally well enough to move from their incubators into an open twin cot. We then spent another two months in hospital, and we learned that due to a shortage of twin cots shared between Queen Charlotte’s and St Mary’s Hospital, some twins are kept apart in low dependency units until one becomes available.

A twin cot may not be life-saving equipment, but to us, it represented a huge milestone. The moment they were placed together was the first time we could truly imagine bringing them home. 

Michelle's story

Last year, I received an unexpected health diagnosis, and since then, I have experienced first-hand the exceptional care, compassion, and expertise of the multidisciplinary teams across Imperial Healthcare NHS Trust's hospitals.

I’m raising funds for the Riverside Unit at Charing Cross Hospital to help ensure that other patients continue to receive the same outstanding treatment I have.

Every donation will directly support patients, staff, and services that make a vital difference when it matters most.

Katherine's story

I’m Dr Katherine Nixon, a translational cancer research scientist working in the Fotopoulou/ Cunnea research group at Imperial.

I've been passionate about ovarian cancer research since undertaking my PhD with the team in 2015. In 2017, I ran the Dublin marathon, raising money for the Ovarian Care Fund, and I’m very excited (and a bit nervous) to be doing the London Marathon this year.

The funds raised will go directly into our research, examining how ovarian cancer behaves in different patients and developing novel testing platforms for the investigation of new targeted therapies. Improving patient outcomes is the goal of our work through a better understanding of this complex disease and translating this into personalised, precision treatments.

I am over halfway through my training plan for the marathon, it has mostly been going well, and the support I've received has been amazing and really helps motivate me, so a massive thank you to everyone! I’m @kat_nixon1 on Instagram if you want to follow my progress.

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We're wishing the best of luck to our runners embarking on their 26.2 mile race across London!

Feeling inspired to get active and raise some money? Visit our fundraising page.