Dunstable man to run 10th London marathon after battling bowel cancer

Peter Knott, 67, will take on his 16th marathon on April 26 when he runs in the capital's iconic 26.2-mile challenge.

He had trained to complete his milestone marathon in 2025, but his journey was put on hold after he was told he had cancer in December 2024.

He explained: ““I thought I’d do it next year… and then I was diagnosed.

I could feel there was something quite different going on… it was only my wife encouraging me to go to the doctors."

Peter underwent an operation and gruelling rounds of chemotherapy at the Luton and Dunstable Hospital. He praised the hospital staff and Macmillan Cancer Support for helping him through treatment.

He said: “They were excellent, so supportive and caring.”

After being told he was cancer-free, Peter set about training for his next, and final, full marathon, but faced another setback in January when he fell and broke both of his wrists.

This, paired with not running properly since his diagnosis, has made the training slightly different for the keen runner: “I’ve got back into it again. It has been a little bit tricky, I have to say.”

Peter is hoping to raise £2,500 for the charity - click here to donate to his fundraising page.

He added: “It’d be great to get to my goal… they deserve every penny they get.

“They took me through a bit of a dark time.”