A Sidcup man took part in the London Marathon whilst wearing a weighted military backpack.

In 2018, James Page’s mum was diagnosed with cancer, and went through surgery, chemo, and radiotherapy, before getting the all-clear in 2019.

However, on that exact same day, James’s dad was also diagnosed with cancer. 

Following that, James wanted to start raising money for a cancer charity.

The 41-year-old said: “I couldn’t imagine my children going through that, so I thought I’d start raising money for Children with Cancer.

“So, I try and do one race every week.”

James ran the London Marathon with a 25lb military backpack, adding to the difficulty of the race.

Running the London Marathon with a military backpack is hard enough, but James had some other challenges to go through.

News Shopper:

He said: “I tore my tendon and got tendonitis, so had been out of running for a little bit.

“It was the end of last year when I started running races, and I just wanted to boost my fundraising.

“So in the lead up to the marathon, I ran four half-marathons wearing the big backpack.”

Although a difficult task, James said: “That wasn’t the hardest race I’ve ran.”

James previously did a 250-kilometre race through the Sahara Desert.

He explained: “In that race, you have to carry everything on your back: your food, your sleeping gear.

“It’s called the toughest foot race on earth.

“There was a freak heatwave that year through North Africa and temperatures reached the mid-50s.

“It was one of the highest ever dropout rates, where there was a big percentage of runners who dropped out due to heat exhaustion.

“That was the hardest one, as you had to carry everything on your back.”

News Shopper:

James managed to complete both races despite the conditions.

During lockdown, when all races and marathons were put on hold, James started doing challenges of his own and ended up running 873 laps – a marathon in itself – around his garden.

James has raised more than £7,000 for Children with Cancer, and has more upcoming races this year, including a 250-kilometre race in Iceland this August.

Children with Cancer awarded James as Charity Fundraiser of the Month in May 2024.

James added: “I’m just carrying on doing as many races as I can to raise money for Children with Cancer.

“I want to keep doing as much as I can, and hope to be accepted into the London Marathon next year.”

Yvonne West, Senior Sports Events Manager, said: "Children with Cancer UK is so grateful for the support that James has given the charity since 2019.

"He is such a dedicated and hardworking supporter, always wanting to do something more crazy than before and helping to raise awareness around the world through the events he takes part in. 

"He has raised over £7,000 to date, which we are so truly grateful for.

"All funds raised will be invested into research looking at the causes of childhood cancers and help the development of kinder, less toxic treatments.

"Every day in the UK, 10 families are given the devastating news that their child has cancer.

"Supporters like James are helping us to raise awareness so that we can achieve our vision where every child and young person survives cancer."