Run for the British Heart Foundation at the 2023 TCS London Marathon and you’ll help to save and improve the lives of millions living with heart and circulatory diseases.

Richard Hatherell was one of 700+ Team BHF runners who took to the streets of London on Sunday 2 October 2022:

"It was mid-December in 2021 when I got the news from the British Heart Foundation that I was on the team. I would be running the London Marathon in the famous red vest and raising money for a cause dear to me.

"This had been a dream of mine for 30 years. It was something, in one way or another, I'd been thinking about since my dad died from a heart attack on 23 November 1990 at the age of 43 – the age I am now. This year was always going to stir up difficult emotions for me.

"For a long time, the BHF has been part of my life. House clearances. Clothes dumps. Charity envelopes. It's always been you. But this year was different.

"I've tried to get the message out there that heart disease does not need to be a death sentence. It does not need to hang over a family like it did with mine. And signing up to run the marathon with the BHF gave me the opportunity to do just that.

"Crossing the Finish Line was not the triumphant euphoria I'd thought it might be. It was a quiet reflection that set over me. Gratitude. Satisfaction. Relief.

"It's been 30 years since I lost my dad to heart failure. I'm grateful to have had this opportunity to honour his life. To have had the space to think more about him and the life I've had that he didn't get to see. I'm hopeful that the money I raised will change someone's life.

"Thank you, British Heart Foundation. I'm proud to have been on your team. A team I joined on the 23 November 1990, and a team I'm proud to be part of for the rest of my life.”

Heart and circulatory diseases are the world’s biggest killers, and they can affect any of us. But thanks to the research we fund, there is hope. By backing the brightest scientific minds, we have the power to find treatments and cures that could make the difference between your parents living to old age or not, your friend making it to graduation or not, your sister being a phone call away or not.

By running the 2023 TCS London Marathon for Team BHF you’ll receive:

• access to 1:1 training support
• a bespoke running top
• a direct line to our 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-marathon selfie!

Join Team BHF at the 2023 TCS London Marathon and we’ll be with you every step of the way. To get going, click here.