Running for a good cause: Jake Spargo

We spoke to Jake, one of our 2022 London Marathon runners to ask him why he chose to take on this massive challenge….

In October 2020, my mum, Tracy was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer, and so began the most difficult year of her life. On 30 December 2020, she had a mastectomy and started her treatment, having to go to the hospital entirely on her own due to COVID-19, and had to recover from her operation with support from a distance from family and friends. After this, mum had to go through 18 weeks of chemotherapy, followed by a week of radiotherapy.

Throughout all of this, she showed an immense amount of courage, strength and dignity, telling everyone, “Well what other choice, do I have? I will never give into this.” My mum’s strength and bravery over the last year resulted in relief at the end of 2021, where her scans showed to have gotten rid of all of the cancer cells in her body. She will still need to take tablets and receive annual checkups for the rest of her life to make the chances of cancer returning as slim as possible, whilst also suffering from multiple side effects. I have been so impressed by the strength my mum has shown during this time and wanted to try and show how much I admire her by completing a challenge of my own, even if it will never compare to the challenges she has gone through. I hoped that by completing this marathon, she would be shown once again just how much support she has and how much she is loved by all of those around her.

The day was one of the best experiences I’ve had. From the start to the finish, the support that everyone gave from runners to the crowd was incredible. Raising money for CTRT was the icing on the cake and I’m thrilled to have raised so much as I know it’s going to be such a good cause and will support so many facing a tough battle with cancer. Crossing the finish line is definitely the proudest moment of my life. There were a few moments that I really wasn’t sure I was going to finish, but the thought of what my mum went through last year and the support from my family and friends in the crowd really pushed me to the end.

Thank you again to all that donated to support my journey.

Jake raised an incredible £5,000 through his sponsorship which will go towards the vital cancer research that CTRT carries out. If you feel inspired and would like to take up a challenge to raise funds for CTRT, check out our Get Involved page and browse the ideas there, we can’t wait to hear from you!