East Sussex man inspired by two friends to run London Marathon for brain tumour cure

Edward Monnington, living in Firle, was inspired by his two friends affected by the disease and ran the iconic 26.2-mile race in a time of 3:47:49 to raise funds or Sussex-based charity Charlie’s Challenge, a Member Charity of Brain Tumour Research.

Ed said: “It wasn’t too bad, although one of my knees is a bit dodgy this morning. My longest training run was 19.5 km so I wasn’t sure I could do the distance, but the crowds and the adrenalin carried me along. There wasn’t one point in the whole distance where there wasn’t someone at the side of the road.

“I’m pretty happy with my time and it was an incredible day. Thank you to everyone who has sponsored me to help find a cure for childhood brain tumours. I am delighted to have raised more than £3,300. There’s still time to add your donation.”

The 28-year-old’s motivation has come about as his life-long friend Charlie Boutwood, the inspiration for Charlie’s Challenge, approaches the 30th anniversary of his diagnosis with a medulloblastoma brain tumour.

But tragically there is another more poignant reason for Ed’s desire to support fundraising to find a cure for brain tumours.

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Georgina Dunn from Ringmer, the sister of Ed’s friend Phil, died last October, several years after diagnosis with the same type of brain tumour as Charlie.

Edward a financial advisor for St James’ Place, who is raising funds for Sussex-based charity Charlie’s Challenge, a founding Member Charity of Brain Tumour Research.

Ed said: “When I decided to take on a marathon, there was always going to be one choice of charity to support. The Monningtons and the Boutwoods have been friends since before I was born, but more recently I lived near Charlie in London so we saw quite a lot of each other. My older brother Henry is going to be Charlie’s best man when he gets married next year.

“When Charlie was being treated as a toddler – he was 20 months when he was diagnosed – almost all of the other children with brain tumours in the hospital did not survive, leading the Boutwoods to set up Charlie’s Challenge to make a difference. Against all the odds, Charlie made a remarkable recovery and now leads a full life.

“In November last year, my friend Phil lost his sister, Georgina, after a long battle with the same brain tumour as Charlie. I felt it was high time to take on a big challenge to support research to find a cure for brain tumours.”

Charlie’s Challenge has raised more than £1 million since it was set up in the summer of 1993. All funds go to research being conducted at one of Brain Tumour Research’s Centres of Excellence to find better outcomes for children with brain tumours and ultimately a cure.

Just 12% of brain tumours survive beyond five years compared with an average of 50% across all cancers, yet historically just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease.