Maria Keen at The Big Half 2019.

MARIA'S #REASONSTORUN

Can you tell us your name?

Maria Keen

Where are you from?

Faversham

How many marathons have you run?

5

Is this your first London Marathon?

This will be my 6th London Marathon.

What charity are you running for and why?

I'm running for Macmillan Cancer Support. My husband, my world, my soul mate Jason was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma in April 2017 and had a large tumour attached to his heart. He spent 6 months constantly being misdiagnosed, despite visiting hospital's and doctors repeatedly with the same symptoms. My heart sank when the doctor said he had cancer, he's everything to me and he's been through so much and had a really rough time to date. He had 6 months of AVBD chemotherapy in the summer of 2017, which sadly did not work and had 3 weeks of radiotherapy in March 2018. We found out in June 2018 that the radiotherapthy worked and he's in remission and fingers crossed he get's the 1 year all clear in April 2019. In October 2018, Jason also suffered a heart attack and had to undergo a triple heart bypass in December 2018, as the radiotherapy treatment he had for his cancer damaged his arteries. We're hoping at his 1 year review in April he'll be given the all clear. From the moment Jason was diagnosed, Macmillan have been there for us both offering help, advice, explaining what's going on and have been a massive source of support. Which is why I'm running my 6th London Marathon to raise much needed funds for Macmillan to keep helping people like they have Jason and myself.

How do you plan to recover after the marathon?

Once I've completed the London Marathon, the first thing I'll do once I've collected my bag is change my trainer's and make my feet and legs happy by putting on my oofos sliders. Then a bit later, I'll get a nice massage and have a bath with magnesium salts to aid my muscle repair and recovery and maybe a drink to celebrate.