Laura Coleman-Day completes 12-marathon challenge for Anthony Nolan by running TCS London Marathon in her wedding dress

A widow has completed her 12-marathon challenge by crossing the London Marathon finish line in her wedding dress.

For Laura Coleman-Day, of Witham St Hughes, Sunday’s TCS London Marathon was the final 26.2miles of a year-long fundraising challenge — which has seen her raise more than £16,000 for Anthony Nolan.

The charity supported her late husband Xander Coleman-Day by securing a stem cell transplant after his acute lymphoblastic leukaemia diagnosis in 2022.

While the transplant was a success in that Xander was free of cancer, he battled with graft vs host disease after the transplant — where the white blood cells he had received from his transplant were attacking cells in his liver — and he died in February 2024.

In his memory, Laura decided to run 12 marathons in 12 months to raise money for Anthony Nolan’s life-saving research into graft vs host disease, and began on May 18, 2024, with the Rutland Water marathon.

The London Marathon was a particularly special occasion for Laura, as Sunday (April 27) marked what should have been her and Xander’s sixth wedding anniversary.

Laura said: “The marathon was absolutely amazing, the atmosphere was second to none.

“Running with one of my best friends, Kate Walford, who I met through Anthony Nolan, was one of the highlights — bar putting on my wedding dress to cross the line.

“That was truly spectacular.”

Across her lengthy — both in distance and time — fundraising campaign Laura has raised a grant total of £16,338, way more than her original £10,000 target.

“I just wanted to raise more than I did the last time I ran for Anthony Nolan,” she added.

“I raised £9,923 in 2023, I didn’t make it to £10,000 and that’s what I really wanted to do this time.

“Now I’m at £16,000 — it’s just bonkers but amazing for Anthony Nolan. It’s going to make such a difference in people’s lives. I’m so grateful to everyone who donated.

“I’ve had people saying I’m such an inspiration but I don’t see it like that.

“I’m just a mum from Lincolnshire who lost her husband, this was my way of giving back. The fact our story has touched so many people is sad but amazing.”

While Laura has no plans to run a marathon each month anymore, she isn’t putting her trainers away for good.

She hopes to run the 2026 London Marathon with Kate, who has just started her own 12-marathon challenge.

It will be Kate’s 12th run, and she ran Laura’s 12th with her.