The British Heart Foundation is proud to be the official Charity of the Year for the 2022 TCS London Marathon.

Around 26 million people worldwide are living with heart failure and over 920,000 people have the condition in the UK alone – that’s 18.4 times the number of people running the London Marathon each year.

We’re calling on those with a 2022 TCS London Marathon ballot place to join our history-making team and help put an end to heart failure.nThe money raised will allow us to fund cutting-edge research into regenerative medicine that could lead to new treatments for people with heart failure. We can only achieve this with your support.

What’s in it for you?

We’re providing every Team BHF runner with:

• access to 1:1 training support
• a bespoke, limited edition running top
• a direct line to our bespoke TCS London Marathon Support Team
• an invite for you and your supporters to our exclusive marathon after party
• a free soothing massage, full plate of food and that vital post-race selfie!

To make this Charity of the Year journey extra special, we’ve also recruited a celebrity Support Squad. Made up of former Olympians, motivational TV legends, long-distance running experts and others, our Support Squad will mentor the BHF team through the highs and lows of the TCS London Marathon journey.

How your support makes a difference

Pete Robertson, a father of three from Nottinghamshire, is taking on the 2022 TCS London Marathon for the BHF along with hundreds of others signed up to run for the BHF team.

A regular runner, Pete suffered a heart attack in November 2019. He said: “I didn’t realise I was having a heart attack at the time. I didn’t think it could happen to me. I’d just completed an Ironman!

"The damage to my heart meant I went from being able to easily run a marathon and do triathlons to shuffling around the room.

“It was a long road to recovery – I struggled to come to terms with what had happened to me. The doctors said my fitness pretty much saved me, but I had to start from the beginning and slowly start to build my fitness back up.”

Because of the scarring to his heart, Pete has been diagnosed with the beginning stages of heart failure. It’s only through research conducted by BHF-funded scientists like Dr Sanjay Sinha and his colleagues at Cambridge University – who are looking at how they can use stem cells to help repair or create new heart muscle – that people like Pete can envision a life free from the debilitating effects of heart failure.

By choosing to support the British Heart Foundation at the TCS London Marathon, you will help fund pioneering regenerative research projects around the UK.

The race is on to heal hearts together. To join Team BHF today in the TCS London Marathon and support our life changing research, click here.