“Coming to Active Together has helped me get ‘me’ back.”

When Lisa Sumpton laces up her trainers on the morning of this year’s London Marathon, she won’t be thinking about achieving a personal best or finishing in a certain time.  

Instead, she’ll be taking it slowly, enjoying every moment and reflecting on how grateful and proud she is just to be there wearing a Yorkshire Cancer Research vest.

After being diagnosed with cancer in October 2023, Lisa didn’t know if or when she’d make the start line of a running event again.  

But thanks to Active Together, a pioneering cancer exercise treatment programme funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research and designed by Sheffield Hallam University’s Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre, she’s found her way back to doing what she loves. 

“Before my diagnosis, I was on a runner’s high,” the 52-year-old says. “I felt the fittest and healthiest I’d been for a long time. Then came the words ‘it is breast cancer’, and my world was turned upside down.”

Lisa, who lives in Harrogate with her family, had been active since she was a child. She had always enjoyed running, but in her 30s and 40s it took a back seat, and it wasn’t until 2021 that she reignited her passion for it.

In May 2022, Lisa ran the Manchester Half Marathon and “got the bug”. She completed the 13.1-mile event faster than she’d run the Leeds Half Marathon a decade before.  

“I was 10 years older and running stronger and faster,” she explains. “I surprised myself by what was possible. I entered the 2022 London Marathon ballot and never dreamt I’d get a place, but I did, and I finished it for charity. It was an incredible day.

“I liked it so much, I decided to give it another go and signed up for the 2023 Berlin Marathon. I ran various half marathons as training for the event. But I knew when I went to Berlin what was around the corner. I’d already noticed a change and had been to see my GP. My gut just knew what it was. 

“My first hope was that it might be hormonal. But a friend had just been through treatment for breast cancer and having seen her experience, I thought I needed to get checked out and not assume anything. Thank goodness I did.”

Lisa travelled to Berlin in September 2023 with friends and achieved a personal best time.  

She says: “I didn’t tell my friends that I’d been to see the doctor because I just wanted to go and us all to enjoy the weekend.”

When she returned, she had multiple tests and scans.  

“It was a very tough 10 days while I was waiting for the results,” she says. “The consultant confirmed that it was cancer but immediately reassured me it hadn’t spread elsewhere. So, it was a shock, but it helped to know what I was dealing with.

“The day before my official diagnosis, I ran the Yorkshire 10 Mile with a friend. We finished in a quick time, and I think it was nervous energy and my subconscious knowing it might be my last big race.”

Following diagnosis, Lisa had surgery. Keen to get fresh air and unable to run following medical advice, she tried to get out for regular walks.  

In December 2023, she began a course of chemotherapy, with treatment taking place every three weeks. When the side effects from treatment wore off during the breaks between sessions, she joined friends for gentle runs to a local coffee shop.  Miles were few and slow, but she says it helped “the healing endorphins flow”.  

It was during her chemotherapy that Lisa attended an assessment with the Active Together team. Active Together is a pioneering cancer exercise service funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research to help people prepare for and recover from cancer treatment. She went on to attend fitness sessions that were scheduled around her treatment. 

“I was really missing my exercise. I’d gone from feeling fit and healthy to feeling like it had all gone. I felt I was going to have to start all over again. I knew I wanted to build my strength up and that I didn’t have full mobility in my left arm, so I was hoping that Active Together would help me recondition my body in an appropriate way that built over time. I hoped the professionals at the programme would know what someone in my position was going through; they would have the knowledge and experience to help me not get ahead of myself,” she explains. 

Lisa continued to have personal fitness and wellbeing sessions through the three weeks of radiotherapy that followed her chemotherapy.  

In April 2024, when she was still in the middle of treatment, Lisa was inspired to once again sign up for the London Marathon.

She says: “I was sat on the sofa watching the event on TV and knowing what an amazing, unique experience it is and just how incredible the atmosphere is, I decided to put myself in the ballot. I didn’t think I’d get in again. It was a bit too remote when I first applied, but when I realised I had a place, I thought how exciting it would be if I could get there; what a goal it could be.

“It will be an achievement to get to the start line, and it will feel like I’ve come full circle and got back to doing what I love doing. And after all the benefit and good feeling I’ve got from Active Together, it will be amazing to use my ballot place to raise money for Yorkshire Cancer Research so they can help others.” 

Lisa is now busy balancing training for the marathon, which takes place on 27 April, with having tablets, injections and treatment infusions to help prevent the cancer returning.  

She adds: “I’m slower than I was, but it’s not about that. I’m running differently with a new perspective. I run even more with friends than I did before, I take part in more Parkruns and I’ve joined a local run group. With a group of friends, I completed the Bournemouth Half Marathon in October 2024 by run and walking. And it’s all guided by joy.  

“When I go out for a run now, I have a little word with myself and remind myself that it wasn’t that long ago that I was sat on the sofa not able to do it. I’m in a very fortunate position where I now can and I’m so grateful. Life’s too short to not make the most of it and enjoy it. I’m very grateful to family, friends, Yorkshire Cancer Research and medical staff for their support. I’m feeling positive and determined and looking forward to a fulfilling 2025. Movement truly is medicine.”