I survived cancer but my children think it’s mad I’m going to run the London marathon

CANCER survivor Deborah James has finally convinced her children it’s safe for her to run the London Marathon after they said she’d be mad to do it.

Deborah has battled stage four metastatic bowel cancer and was told in January she is cancer-free. So when she decided to celebrate by running the 26.2-mile race her son and daughter were horrified.

The podcaster and Instagram star known as Bowel Babe will take on the challenge on April 26 despite having no feeling in her feet owing to the ravages of the cancer.

Deborah says Hugo, 12, and Eloise, 10, think she’s “mad” but are excited.

She reveals: “When I told them they said, ‘No, no, you’re going to die.why are you going to do it?’ and now they are like, ‘We’ll meet you at this mile and we’ll see you at this mile’ and are arguing over the banners they’re going to make!”

Deborah’s partner Sebastien is also concerned.

She says: “He’s worried I’m going to break something. I fractured my right ankle when I ran the Royal Parks Half in 2018. Because of my treatment, my bones are weakened and I have nerve damage so can’t feel my feet.

“I was pounding on my ankle and I didn’t feel the pain and it was only when the nerve receptors eventually kicked in at the end of 15km I was like, ‘Ooh, something hurts’. I was so determined to make it to the end I just carried on. I was on crutches for eight weeks!”

The former deputy headteacher, 38, says: “I work at 100 miles per hour. In January I got scan results showing no evidence of disease.

“As soon as I got them, I said yes to the marathon. It’s the first time since my diagnosis three years ago that I’ve been able to put something in my diary. Every time I’ve said to my medical team, ‘I want to run it’, they’ve said, ‘But you need to have an operation in three weeks’. It’s a massive commitment for me.” Speaking at the launch of the 40thvirgin Money London Marathon, ontower Bridge, she reveals she has started training but is “scared”, adding: “My biggest challenge is getting to the start line. I have no control over the cancer. “On paper I’m cancer-free but it can rear its ugly head any time.”

Deborah still takes daily drugs and has fortnightly infusions.

She says: “If I make it to my 40th birthday in October next year I’m having a massive party because statistically I shouldn’t see my

40th. It’s one step at a time.”

● Deborah runs #The40thrace for Royal Marsden Cancer Charity