Aston Clinton family to run 2021 London Marathon for late wife and mum

A father and son from Aston Clinton are teaming up to run this weekend's London Marathon in memory of mum and wife, Nickie.

On Sunday (October 3), Joe Bunyan and his dad Rob will be among the 50,000 runners at the first full-scale London Marathon since the pandemic.

Rennie Grove Hospice Care is the boys charity of choice, as its staff looked after Nickie in her last days.

Joe said: “In 2000 Rennie Grove helped my mum when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. The support from the nurses allowed her to stay at home with her family throughout her treatment, and to pass away peacefully surrounded by her family.

"Although only a child at the time, I now understand how valuable this was to both my mum and all of our family.

“My Dad has run the London Marathon multiple times to raise money for Rennie Grove. I’ve been on the side-lines to support him as kid, but this year I will be joining the grind

and we'll be running the event together, both in support of this great charity.

“The training’s been tough but entering and training together has been really good for keeping the motivation up. My Dad’s been running in the Buckinghamshire area for over 25

years, so he's been able to show me a lot of running routes in Wendover Woods, Coombe Hill and his gruelling, four hills Ridgeway route! Each run is usually finished with an attempted sprint finish to decide who makes the tea back home!

“Despite having lived here for a long time, some of these places have been completely new to me, and having a new-found appreciation for the great outdoor spaces we have in Bucks has definitely been one of the surprise benefits of all the training.

“Right now, I can definitely recommend anyone to enter the Marathon and raise funds for a charity like Rennie Grove; even better if you can enter together with someone.

Hopefully the same can be said after the event – we'll see!

“It’s going to be a huge challenge, and I'm sure there will be plenty of suffering which has got to be worth something! Anything you can give is hugely appreciated. Your donations

will raise valuable funds so Rennie Grove can continue to support individuals and families in the way they did for us.”

Joe and Rob have set up separate fundraising pages which can be accessed online here and here.