But for friends Kate Walford and Laura Coleman-Day, the Guernsey Marathon is only the beginning.
Crossing paths through their links to the charity Anthony Nolan, Kate, 52, from Guernsey and Laura, 34, from Lincoln, decided last September, while travelling to the Great Northern Run, to take on seven marathons in seven days.
Starting with the Guernsey Marathon on Sunday, they will travel to Lincoln on Monday, and begin a marathon a day on Tuesday, taking them down the country in time for the London Marathon next Sunday.
The pair met at the London Marathon in 2023 and have stayed in close contact, leading each other astray with suggestions of different running challenges, all in aid of the Anthony Nolan charity. Over the years, between them, they have raised £60,000.
‘Anthony Nolan means everything to me,’ said Laura.
‘My husband was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, and had the Philadelphia gene, which meant his body would continuously make cancerous cells, so the only way to get rid of that was to have a stem cell transplant.’
Xander was lucky and found a match with a donor, but for some people, such as those of ethnic minorities, it can be much harder to find a match.
‘Anthony Nolan gave us another year with him and considering he was diagnosed when our son was 11 months old, you can’t put money on that,’ she said.
‘I will forever be thankful for Anthony Nolan for giving us that time because without that, we wouldn’t even have had six months.’
Xander died in February 2024.
Kate began her fundraising with Anthony Nolan in 2019, when she received a marathon place following the death of Mark Fallaize, her family friend and godfather to her son, in 2018.
Mark also received stem cells through Anthony Nolan.
‘I don’t think there are even words to describe what Anthony Nolan has done for the group this year. Someone running is seven months post-transplant,’ said Kate.
‘There’s people who have had their transplants and want to give something back, people whose loved ones are waiting for stem cells, so not only are they dealing with horrific cancer, but they’re trying to train for a marathon.
‘For one person, her recipient is coming to cheer her on.’
Anthony Nolan has a team of almost 200 runners at this year’s London marathon and had more than 1,000 applicants.
The pair have named their challenge ‘Project 7’.
This year marks seven years that Kate has been fundraising for Anthony Nolan and her seventh London marathon, and it would have been Laura and Xander’s seven-year wedding anniversary on 27 April.
‘My marathon in 2019 was meant to be a one-off as I know how hard it is to get a place,’ said Kate.
‘I got such an amazing buzz from the atmosphere, the people. London is one of the biggest charity bib races – if you’re not running for a charity, you actually stick out a little bit.
‘I felt such a huge buzz that I wanted to do it again. I got a place the following year and it just snowballed from there really.’
It will be the friends they have met along the way through Anthony Nolan who will help to get them through the challenge.
After the Guernsey marathon, they will start again from Lincoln Cathedral on Tuesday, covering more than a marathon distance a day before they collect their bibs from the Excel Centre in London on Saturday.
In terms of the experience itself, the pair are unsure what to expect.
They know they will be taking the Guernsey marathon slow and steady, but will still need to finish at a reasonable time due to it being an organised event.
‘When we’re in the UK, we have more flexibility, we’ll be able to stop for a pub lunch and get going again,’ said Kate.
‘We really don’t know what it’s going to feel like, how we’re going to struggle, whether we love it or hate it.
‘But we don’t take ourselves too seriously, there will be lots of humour which gets us through.
‘We’re just really grateful for everyone’s support.’
Anyone who wishes to donate to Laura and Kate running for Xander and Mark can do so here.
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