At 75 years old, Les Bown is not the average runner you usually find tackling the hills of the Beachy Head Marathon. But by undertaking this tough challenge, Les has raised an incredible £4,018 for the hospice in recognition of the care we’ve been offering his wife, Heather. We sat down and asked him all about it.

“I am never doing another marathon!” Those were the words I uttered after running my first marathon more than 30 years ago, yet here I was again. This time, I would be facing the undulating hills of the 26.2 mile course around the South Downs National Park as part of the Beachy Head Marathon.

I completed the run, but it was brutal from the start, going up the hill at the top of the seafront, and taking in Beachy Head and the Seven Sisters as I made my way round. And because we’d had so much rain beforehand, the ground was thick with mud.

But it was the thought of Heather that kept me going. We’ve been married for 54 years and have two sons and three grandchildren. Heather has bravely fought cancer for the past 10 years, during which time she has endured numerous rounds of gruelling chemotherapy. Sadly, the drugs are no longer effective, and her cancer is now classified as terminal.

I met Heather when I was serving in the Army in the Royal Military Police. I was posted to Plymouth, where Heather was working in the dockyard, and I always used to joke that she was a riveter, although she actually worked in finance.

My job meant we moved around a lot and Heather always accompanied me on postings, even on long tours in Northern Ireland during violent times in the 1970s. When I finished serving after 26 years, I was a Captain in the Special Investigation Branch of the Royal Military Police. Other places we lived during that time include Germany, Ireland, Hong Kong and Cyprus.

That’s where I ran my first marathon in my early 40s. As a member of the Garrison Cross Country Team, we had a series of cross country runs throughout the winter, leading up to that first marathon. I’ve always tried to keep reasonably fit, and after that I carried on running on and off.

We settled in Eastbourne in June 2022, and after saying never again to a marathon, in October 2023 I spotted an advert for this year’s Beachy Head Marathon. I fancied a challenge and hoped I might still be able to do it; the idea to set a target of raising £2,000 for St Wilfrid’s came later. I can’t believe I ended up raising £4,018 – and if you add in Gift Aid that’s an additional £738, making a total financial benefit of £4,756.

We’d first heard about the hospice when Heather’s oncologist said we should link up with them, because the nurses have such a good reputation. We had an appointment to speak to one of the Community Nurses, Laura, and she quickly helped Heather. We were surprised when she had suggestions about non-medical things such as applying for a blue badge. We never realised that we’d be entitled to any kind of allowance, so to have that guidance was so helpful.

Since then, St Wilfrid’s nurses have kept in regular touch with our GP and the district nurses, and all link together very well. Most recently, Heather has been visited several times by Community Nurse Specialist, Jodie, who has helped to get Heather’s medication dosage right.

The marathon seemed a fitting way to say thank you to the team at the hospice for their excellent support to Heather and myself during this difficult time.

I trained for months, hoping I wouldn’t pick up an injury. I tried to go longer distances, but started getting sore ligaments in my right foot, so I had to ease off. It meant I never got to do the longer distances that I would have liked to have done, but funnily enough, on the marathon day itself, I didn’t have any trouble with my feet. It was my hips that ached.

I got a tremendous response when I told people I was running for St Wilfrid’s. Friends, family, ex-colleagues from the Army and my later work in security for the Ministry of Defence, as well as our neighbours – they were all wonderful. I got almost £900 just from my neighbours, I think because a lot of them are local and know the hospice and its value.

We’re very impressed with everything about St Wilfrid’s. I was offered counselling a few months ago and Heather also has access to their complementary therapists. They’re all brilliant. The hospice itself is a lovely building and we love the café, especially the scones! It’s nice that the café is open to everyone.

But most of all, it’s just reassuring to know that the hospice is here, and I can phone Nurse Line anytime, day or night, and there will be somebody who can offer advice and support.

Picture captions: Les on marathon day, and presenting his cheque to Jemma and Megan from our Fundraising Team