The 2026 TCS London Marathon on Sunday 26 April will bring together more than 60,000 extraordinary people, including former England U21 rugby player Matt Hampson, whose #mattseverest challenge headlines a line-up of powerful human stories, including two brothers with hereditary dementia, remarkable American comeback journeys, world record attempts and personal charity tributes.
Matt Hampson makes TCS London Marathon debut
Paralysed from the neck down in a 2005 training accident, aged just 20, Matt, now 41, established the Matt Hampson Foundation to support young people rebuilding their lives after catastrophic sporting injuries.
With the Foundation’s Get Busy Living Centre, based in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, supporting over 60 visitors each week, and expansion planned for 2026, Matt will tackle his first TCS London Marathon in a wheelchair as part of an assisted wheelchair team.
The #mattseverest team is aiming to raise £100,000 for the Foundation’s life-changing work.
Matt Hampson and team prepare for the 2026 TCS London Marathon this April.
Brothers fighting rare genetic dementia
Among the most powerful stories this year are those of brothers Jordan and Cian Adams, from Redditch, Worcestershire, who both carry a rare genetic mutation giving them a near certain chance of developing frontotemporal dementia in their 40s. Having lost their mum to the same hereditary disease at just 52, the pair, who are 30 and 25 respectively, have become major advocates for dementia awareness through their FTD Brothers Foundation and have raised more than £400,000 for Alzheimer’s Research UK.
For the first time, they will run the TCS London Marathon together, with Jordan carrying a fridge for the charity Mind and Buxton’s Sweat and Tears campaign, symbolising the hidden burdens people carry. Following the London Marathon, the brothers will fly straight to Ireland, where their mum was born, to allow Jordan to begin his 32 marathons in 32 days challenge across all 32 Irish counties, as part of their mission to raise £1 million before dementia takes hold.
As Jordan says: “To live with that knowledge is incredibly difficult, but I’ve tried to use it as a licence to live and to benefit those living with dementia or caring for someone with dementia.”
American couple turning adversity into motivation
Flying to the start line from Copley, Ohio, US, after extraordinary adversity, are Danelle and Richard Villers, whose lives were turned upside down in late 2024. Within 24 hours, Richard, 60, suffered two torn quadriceps tendons and a broken ankle in a workplace accident, while Danelle, 51, was diagnosed with a benign tumour compressing her spinal cord.
The injuries cut short Danelle’s quest to complete all six Abbott World Marathon Majors after running Boston, New York, Chicago and Berlin. After months of physiotherapy, relearning to walk and rebuilding their strength, the couple are here for the 2026 TCS London Marathon.
“After the disappointment of deferring, every run towards London 2026 carries more weight and meaning,” says Danelle. “It won’t just be about crossing the finish line, but everything that got us there.”
Special Olympian targets two Guinness World Records
This year’s marathon will also feature Special Olympics athlete Erica Dixon, 26, from Barnard Castle, County Durham, who will attempt to break two Guinness World Records by becoming the fastest and youngest female with an intellectual disability to run a marathon. Erica’s cognitive ability means that everyday tasks that many of us take for granted can require significantly more effort, planning and resilience.
Erica has represented the North-East at national disability athletics championships and raised thousands of pounds for charities, including Marie Curie and Macmillan. She is hoping to achieve a sub-4:15 finish in London this year.
Marie Curie runners to raise awareness of end-of-life care as charity celebrates being Charity of the Year
Donna Manser and Ben Myall will run in memory of family members cared for by the 2026 TCS London Marathon Charity of the Year, Marie Curie.
Donna, 48, from Devon, is running in memory of her dad, Bryan, who died from liver cancer in 2024. Towards the end of his life, Marie Curie cared for Bryan each night, enabling him to pass away at home surrounded by family.
Donna ran the 2025 TCS London Marathon for Marie Curie and is going for round two in 2026.
“The grace and dignity that all the Marie Curie nurses showed my dad will stay with me forever,” Donna says.
Ben Myall, 29, from Solihull, West Midlands, is running the 2026 TCS London Marathon in memory of his mum, Rachael, who was diagnosed with a rare cancer called retroperitoneal liposarcoma.
Towards the end of her life in 2024, Rachael was cared for by Marie Curie nurses at home, before receiving end-of-life care at the Marie Curie Hospice, West Midlands.
“The one thing I remember most vividly from one of Marie Curie’s first visits is hearing Mum laughing with the nurses – not exactly a common thing at that time! She had a very distinctive laugh, and I remember it was the first time we’d heard it in such a long time,” Ben says.
Donna and Ben will join more than 750 Marie Curie participants on Marathon Day.
Fundraiser closing in on £2 million raised for cancer charities
And finally, Gill Punt, from Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, affectionately known as ‘Paula the Polar Bear’, is approaching an extraordinary £2 million raised for cancer charities as she prepares for her 14th TCS London Marathon and 30th marathon overall.
The 55-year-old mum, teacher and double Guinness World Record holder runs in memory of her father, and the pupils and colleagues she’s lost to cancer.
This year, after being surprised on the BBC Make a Difference show by Gaby Roslin, Gill hopes to finally meet her idol, Paula Radcliffe, on Marathon Day, a dream she has cherished for decades.
“I’m not going to stop at two million,” she says. “The ultimate finishing line is a world without cancer, so when we get to that, the polar bear will hang up her paws.”
