Brighton mum takes on marathon after battling brain tumours

Candice Davis will take on the Brighton Marathon dressed as Disney character Moana

Candice Davis, 45, has not only battled three brain tumours, but also swam the English Channel last September with her group of friends known as the Mermummas.

Her next goal was to take her strength from sea to land and run the Brighton Marathon.

But in October 2017 she began to lose her eyesight, and the remnants of the previous brain tumour began to grow back.

“I had to have radiation which meant that I couldn’t run the marathon. At that point I was devastated” she said.

“This was only until my friends said ‘oh, we can run it for you’. This is how the whole thing evolved.”

With such a tight-knit group of friends, Candice had to be part of it too.

“In February I started walking and my friends decided that it would be more fun if I joined them.”

However, running 26 miles only months after radiation was not challenging enough for Candice.

She will be dressed as Moana - the protagonist from the Disney film Moana, a story of a brave young polynesian girl who is chosen to save her people and the world - while the rest of her friends will be dressed as members of her tribe running with a giant boat.

Becky Habba, 44, a close friend and crew member has been heavily involved in getting the boat ready to ‘set sail’ through the streets of Brighton this Sunday (April 15).

“There has been no grand plan. I just sort of made it up,” she said.

“It's made out of pipe insulation, bamboo and a lot of duct tape. A lot of duct tape.”

They are raising money and awareness for The Brain Tumour Charity, a very personal choice for Candice.

Her son, William, eight, will also be running the Mini Mile in aid of the charity.

“This is one of the cancer charities that has the least amount of publicity, the more we know about this charity the more we want to raise money for it.”

Brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under 40 according to recent statistics from The Brain Tumour Charity.

Almost 11,000 people are diagnosed each year with a primary brain tumour, including 500 children and young people – that's 30 people every day.

You would think running a marathon in a giant boat costume joined up by ten people would be enough of a challenge. But not for Candice.

These bateau babes are also attempting to break the Guinness World Record for the largest group and the biggest costume to enter a marathon.

The biggest group to have run a marathon was five people who entered the London Marathon dressed as a Chinese dragon.

Candice and her mermates will be ten in total, and their challenge is to run (or hypothetically sail) the marathon in less than six-and-a-half hours.

“I am just really grateful to be alive, to be able to be with my little boy," Candice said. "All the exercise is great, it keeps me cheerful”.

Another fellow friend and runner Jo Lloyd, 42, who lost her brother to brain cancer said: “It's a good chance to get fit, have a bit of fun, achieve something, but really it is to raise money. As long as we raise money, that is my motivation.

“We will look a bit ridiculous, really quite ridiculous, but all of that will bring the money in.”

To sponsor Candice and her friends, click here.