East Sussex brothers take on marathons inspired by mum's brain tumour battle

Ben Goode, 18, will be taking part in the Brighton Marathon on April 10 while his older brother, Jonah, will be running the Rock 'n' Roll Madrid Marathon on April 24, both in aid of Brain Tumour Research.

Their inspiration comes from their mum, Linda Goode, who discovered she had a brain tumour in October 2021 after experiencing problems with her speech and was formally diagnosed with a grade 4 glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) – the most common type of primary malignant brain tumour in adults – in December 2021.

Ben, who attends the University of Bath where he studies economics, said: “I’ve run a lot since I was young but I’ve never really done long distances so it’s not something completely out of the ordinary for me but it’s definitely going to be a challenge.

“Every time I go out on a run and finish really tired I realise that a marathon is basically eight of those in a row so I know it’s going to be tough but, whenever I feel intimidated about the prospect of doing it, I think about all the support we’ve got, which has blown me away.”

The siblings, from Lewes, are aiming to raise £10,000 and have already raised an impressive £8,715.

Jonah, a business and management undergraduate at Bournemouth University, will be moving to Madrid later this month as part of an exchange programme and was happy to find a marathon taking part there around the same time as the one his brother is competing in.

The 20-year-old said: “I have occasionally run 5ks but it’s been about a year since I did that so I’m basically a complete beginner and getting to 26.2 miles is definitely going to be a journey.

“I’ve always been active but more into weights so I really wanted to challenge myself to make my mum proud because she’s a lot more athletic than me in terms of running and I thought if she’s going through all she is then the least I could do is take on this challenge to help everyone else who is in a similar situation."

Linda, a mother-of-three and freelance PE teacher, underwent a debulking surgery in November and is due to start six weeks of chemotherapy and radiotherapy this week.

Jonah said: “She’s the strongest woman I know. Seeing her go through this is hard but she’s dealing with the cards she’s been dealt and making the most of it which I really respect because it can happen to anyone at any time.”

Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer yet historically just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease.

Charlie Allsebrook, community development manager for Brain Tumour Research, said: “Linda’s diagnosis is new and scary but she is facing it head on and throwing everything she can at it. We wish her the best of luck with her ongoing treatment and appreciate the support of her sons who are doing an amazing job of fundraising for what will undoubtedly be really tough challenges.”

Brain Tumour Research funds sustainable research at dedicated centres in the UK. It also campaigns for the Government and the larger cancer charities to invest more in research into brain tumours in order to speed up new treatments for patients and, ultimately, to find a cure.

The charity is the driving force behind the call for a national annual spend of £35 million in order to improve survival rates and patient outcomes in line with other cancers such as breast cancer and leukaemia and is also campaigning for greater repurposing of drugs.

To support Ben and Jonah’s fundraising click here and to follow their progress search @marathonsformum on Instagram.

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