While the elite will be chasing records, glory, and substantial rewards on The Mall in the 43rd TCS London Marathon on Sunday 23 April 2023, thousands more runners of all abilities will have their own personal and often poignant reason for making their way at their own pace through the streets of the capital in the greatest marathon in the world.

Among those charity fundraisers is Norwich Cathedral’s Master of Music, Ashley Grote (40) who will be running his eighth London Marathon and hoping to break the £150,000 barrier for money raised for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity, the 2023 TCS London Marathon Charity of the Year. Ashley will be inspired by his daughter Emily (12) who grew up in the hospital after being diagnosed with a brain tumour at three years old.

Flora Turnbull, 31, from Suffolk, the daughter of former BBC Breakfast host Bill Turnbull, is running her first TCS London Marathon for the charity Prostate Cancer UK in memory of her father, who died of prostate cancer last year. After Bill’s diagnosis became public in 2018, there was a huge spike in diagnoses across the UK – referred to by Prostate Cancer UK as the Fry-Turnbull effect, named after both Bill and fellow national treasure Stephen Fry, who was also diagnosed in 2018.
  
Many people travel from abroad to raise funds and awareness of charities and issues that are close to their hearts, like Roman Kashpur, 24, from Kharkiv, Ukraine, who was a member of the Armed Forces of Ukraine serving as a soldier protecting his country when he was injured in May 2019 while fighting in the Donetsk region, and now has a prosthetic leg. After his recovery, he continued to keep fit and, with the support of his wife and young family, is now training to run the TCS London Marathon for the first time.

Through his running, he hopes to raise money for injured Ukrainian soldiers and inspire those with disabilities. Roman said: “Charity is what distinguishes the London Marathon. I run to raise awareness for the wounded Ukrainian soldiers who have lost limbs in this war – to raise additional funds for state-of-the-art prosthetics, rehabilitation, and social support programmes for wounded soldiers."

Meanwhile, schools across the UK are being encouraged to sign up for the 2023 TCS Mini London Marathon in schools and be part of a Guinness World Records attempt. The TCS Mini London Marathon in schools is a free-of-charge challenge for children and young people to run, jog, walk, or wheel one mile in their schools any time between Monday 17 April to Friday 12 May.

The world record attempt is for ‘the most pledges received for an exercise campaign in one month’. The current record is 241,675 people, held by the local government of Chengdu, Sichuan, China. If the record is broken, every school taking part will receive one Guinness World Records certificate to keep as a memento for helping break the record. There will also be the opportunity for parents, carers, and families to purchase additional certificates. Schools can enter the TCS Mini London Marathon in schools for free here.

For previous London Marathon results and stories visit runABC South race listing here.

Image courtesy TCS London Marathon