Eastbourne teacher runs half marathon for ‘dear friend’ lost to brain cancer

Michelle O'Connell, from Eastbourne, completed the Brighton Half Marathon on February 25 in aid of the charity Brain Tumour Research.

She said: “My brother, Lee-James, signed me up for it in December, so I had about eight weeks to train. I took advice from friends who run, building up slowly from 5km and working through a variety of aches and pains in different body parts.

“On the day, I was fuelled by adrenaline and nerves. I started off running alongside Lee-James, who is training for a marathon in April, but we split to our own paces quite early.

“I kept finding the gaps until I reached a pace that felt comfortable and I high-fived every child with a hand out. It was freezing and they must have been so bored, so I made a point of darting about to reach as many as I could.

“It lifted my spirits to see the kindness of strangers but I looked like a spaghetti monster running all over the place waving my arms and legs, more interested in the supporters than the time as my aim was to ‘complete not compete’.

“I was relieved to reach the finish line and really proud to do it in two hours, 34 minutes.”

The mum-of-two is a science teacher and forest school leader at Priory School in Lewes and was inspired to take part in the 13.1-mile race by her former colleague Linda Goode, who was a passionate Brain Tumour Research campaigner.

Linda, a mum-of-three and an identical triplet from Lewes, was diagnosed with a glioblastoma (GBM) in October 2021.

The freelance PE teacher and advisor underwent surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy and remained stable until a scan last summer revealed her tumour had grown.

Sadly, despite her continued efforts to fight the disease, she passed away in January, aged 51.

Michelle, 40, said: “When Linda’s cancer story hit, I was devastated and in complete denial. If anyone could beat anything it would be Linda. She was health conscious and believed anything was possible with the right mindset.

“She was inspiringly brave sharing her journey, the good, bad and ugly. Most people hide away from the reality of living with cancer, but she saw it as an opportunity to show others how to respond in the face of adversity.

“She danced and encouraged everyone to live their best life, take every risk and regret nothing, make every memory and remember what is important in life, family and friends.”

Among Michelle’s supporters were her husband, Jason, and Linda’s husband, Phil.

Michell added: “I had ‘Running for Linda Goode’ written on my back and in the last 2km I got a tap on my shoulder from a lady who said she knew Linda.

“That was the part in the race where we were digging deep, being pushed back by opposing ice winds along the sea front and it completely lifted me again.

“I loved her dearly. The world lost an absolute diamond to this awful disease and the last thing I could do to honour her efforts was carry on the work she felt passionate about.”