From Brighton to London – local woman’s two-marathon challenge for charity

A LOCAL woman is taking on the challenge of running two marathons in one month, raising funds for the charity Asthma + Lung UK, in memory of her father. 

The Brighton Marathon takes place on Sunday 7th April and the London Marathon will be staged two weeks later on Sunday 21st April. Victoria Fiander says she is hoping to raise £2,000 for Asthma + Lung UK, running for her father, Cliff Fiander, who was a Melksham resident and died of mesothelioma in 2018. 

“It has been a lot of hard work, training, determination, motivation and discipline. I live by the moto, ‘if my mind can conceive it and my heart can believe it – then I can achieve it,” says Victoria. 

 “I have been running for about 10 years; I am not a natural runner and find it far from easy but to prepare for this challenge, I have been running three to four times a week, with a long training run at the weekend. Alongside that, I’ve been doing weekly strength training at the gym, as well as spin classes. I want to make sure I’m ready when I get to the start line in April. 

 “I lost my dad in 2018, just two weeks after my daughter was born and it was heartbreaking; running really gave me a focus and helped me through it. Knowing the funds I am raising will go towards helping people like my dad drives me on and makes me even more determined to cross the finish lines. 

 “I have found that with running, you get out what you put in, but with increasingly longer runs can come self-doubt, fatigue, exhaustion and fear of failure. I can’t stop training because the weather isn’t on my side (and it hasn’t been for the start of the year). I also have three children, so fitting in training around the demands of family life has been a fine balancing act.  

 “I am preparing myself for being tired and pretty bruised and battered after the Brighton Marathon, coupled with needing to prepare for London, just two weeks later. I need to make sure I look after myself and stay injury-free (touch wood!) 

“I am running as part of an amazing team all raising money for a hugely worthwhile charity. I think I’ll feel proud, elated, exhausted and ready for a hot bath at the end. I would love to continue to support and fundraise for Asthma + Lung UK, who are doing such vital work, now more than ever.” 

 “Even before Covid-19, NHS hospital admissions for lung conditions were rising three times faster than average admissions,” explains Victoria. “One person in five in the UK will have a lung condition in their lifetime. As the nation’s lung charity, Asthma + Lung UK is there for every one of them.  

“Their support helps people who struggle to breathe, manage their lung condition and live well. Lung disease is now the third most common cause of death, costing the NHS more than £9billion every year.” 

When Victoria’s parents moved to Melksham 13 years ago, she said her father got involved with the community and helped with Melksham in Bloom, the gardening club and raised funds for Dorothy House on a number of occasions with the Rotary Club. 

“He loved helping others,” says Victoria. “As well as helping in Melksham, he also helped organise the Chippenham Dragon Boat Race as part of the Rotary, to volunteering as an exam invigilator, planting flowers in John Cole’s Park in Chippenham and being part of the team who tidied up the Lacock Churchyard and lots in between. 

“I think my dad would say I’m mad but he was my biggest cheerleader, he always believed in me, even when I didn’t believe in myself. He started running himself when he was out at sea with the Royal Navy, running circuits on deck. When I told him how hard I found running, he told me to channel ‘the little engine who could.’ I still think of that now, when I’m struggling on a training run. Something he always taught us was to be determined and always believe in yourself no matter how difficult it may seem at the time.  

“I’d like to think he’d be very proud, he did so much for other people and raising awareness of the condition within the community.”

To support Victoria and help her raise funds, her Just Giving page is here https://‑/page/victoriamarathons2024