Music teacher with stage four cancer set to run London Marathon 2024 with a trombone
| Published date | 19 April 2024 |
| Publication title | MyLondon (England) |
He spoke about receiving the news. He said: "You walk out of that room a different person. But I ran home from hospital because running -even when I was really ill -running was just with me. In fact I did my first 100 miler two days before the colonoscopy that would give me a diagnosis."
"I've never felt worse after a run, so I may as well do that," Nathaniel added.
The addition of the trombone also comes from a place of passion. He said: "It's always been with me the trombone. In fact, when my life became really quite difficult in my mid-twenties I lost my fiance.
"My reaction to basically get a break from reality for a bit was being a backpacker -going around the world, doing some busking with the trombone and playing in cafes and stuff all over the place. So I guess I've kind of just resorted to the trombone when things have got tough."
Nathaniel added: "I call it combining my two great passions really."
Running the London Marathon is Nathaniel's way to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support which has been "a lifeline" for him sometimes with their helpline and free counselling. He has raised over £18,500 on his Just Giving page so far. Donators can choose a track for his trombone playlist during the race, he said.
He has also set up his own website bowelcancerbucketlist.com where he posts a blog about his experience with cancer during which he has developed a love for writing. Because of this, he has written articles for lots of publications like Runners World magazine for which he made the cover and wrote a feature.
Adele Roberts is a great source of inspiration for Nathaniel as she set the world record for the fastest time running a marathon with a stoma at last year's London Marathon with a time of 3:30:22. "She's kind of my role model in a way," Nathaniel said and he added he wanted to challenge her to run 100 miles as he did.
Signs of Nathaniel's cancer first started showing in autumn 2021. He said running was "pretty much an addiction at this point", going 80 miles a week the fastest he ever had. But gradually he was getting slower for no apparent reason.
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