Bowel cancer babe Dame Deborah James inspires virtual London Marathon from Roxton to Bedford

A woman inspired by bowel cancer babe Dame Deborah James, is running the virtual London Marathon to raise money for blood cancer charity WMUK.

Caroline Whitlock, 56, decided to take on the challenge after her husband Paul was diagnosed with Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinaemia (WM) last year.

Paul has just finished six months of chemotherapy but Caroline wanted to do something to help the charity and was inspired by the words and positivity of Dame Deborah to ‘take risks and live life to the full’.

Caroline, a first time marathon runner, said: “On Sunday I will be running the Virtual TCS London Marathon to raise funds for WMUK. I’m passionate about fundraising for this charity and have had fun working out my local 26.2 mile marathon route from Roxton to Bedford and back to Roxton.

She added: “The support of WMUK, the only charity in the UK focused solely on WM, has been invaluable to us over the last year in terms of information and connecting with others with WM.

“When the opportunity came up to take part in the virtual 2022 TCS London Marathon I knew I had to apply.”

“Please help to support this cause. Every penny will go towards funding support and vital research to change the lives of people living with this rare disease.”

> In 2016, Deborah James was diagnosed with incurable bowel cancer and went on to host the You, Me and the Big C podcast on BBC Radio 5 Live about her struggles with her illness. She died on June 28. To donate visit