Alex & Izzy
Alex and Izzy’s dad, Mounir, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer after experiencing unexpected pain. Sadly, Mounir died nine months later. Now, Alex and Izzy are taking on the TCS 2025 London Marathon in honour of their dad, and to raise money for pancreatic cancer research.
In early 2023, I was shopping with my dad, Mounir, when we had to stop and take a break. He said, “I need to have a break, I’m in pain.” I had never seen my dad like that. Something was seriously wrong.
Shortly after, he had his first CT scan and was told they needed to do a second one after finding something on his pancreas. Dad immediately went for his second scan, which confirmed he had pancreatic cancer. After months of chemotherapy and a short period in hospice care, Dad sadly passed away nine months after diagnosis.
A sign to run for Dad
In April 2024, on Dad’s first birthday since he died, my sister Izzy and I saw something that caught our eye: a social media post announcing Pancreatic Cancer UK as the Charity of the Year for the TCS 2025 London Marathon. We felt it was a sign and immediately applied to take part.
When it was announced, we knew there was something else we could do for him. Neither of us have run a marathon before but we’re both loving training. It’s a way to turn pain into purpose and intention. It really is healing.
The marathon is such a special day. It’s the best of London. It’s going to be amazing being with the team, running for an incredible charity with a great purpose, in honour of a legendary man.
2023 was the worst year for us. It’s great to be able to take away something positive from it. Whenever I think of the marathon day itself, I always picture Dad cheering us on from the sidelines, smiling and giving a thumbs up like he usually did.
Changing the future of pancreatic cancer
I will be one of more than 700 runners raising money for Pancreatic Cancer UK at this year’s TCS London Marathon on Sunday 27th April. Together we are all aiming to raise £2M to go towards desperately needed research and put the first-ever early detection test for the disease into the hands of doctors.
It’s unacceptable that things have barely improved for pancreatic cancer in decades. There have been so many advancements for different types of cancers, but pancreatic cancer has been neglected. I feel like we have this sense of duty to Dad, and everyone impacted by this cruel cancer, to spread awareness and hopefully prevent others from having the same year we did.