Sally Wagstaff welcomed Sarah Baldock onto this week’s Wellness Wednesday health and wellbeing show.
Sarah, a local mum of three and family photographer, is taking on the 2026 London Marathon in memory of her mum, who she lost to ovarian cancer 35 years ago when she was just 20. It is a loss that has stayed with her ever since. She always said that if she ever ran the London Marathon, it would be in her mum’s name, and next year, she is doing exactly that.
Sarah only began running in January 2025 after returning to the gym for a post-lockdown health reset. Starting with Couch to 5K, what began as a personal fitness goal has grown into something far more meaningful. Now nine weeks into her marathon training plan, she admits she is not a natural runner but she is making steady progress and slowly learning to love it.
She is running for Ovarian Cancer Action, a charity dedicated to funding research into earlier diagnosis and more effective treatments. Ovarian cancer is often described as a “silent killer”, yet the symptoms are present — they can simply be easy to dismiss. Persistent bloating, pelvic or abdominal pain, feeling full quickly and needing to use the toilet more frequently are all signs that should not be ignored if they are unusual and ongoing.
In the UK, around 7,500 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year and more than 4,000 die from the disease. Early diagnosis significantly improves outcomes, but there is currently no routine screening test, making awareness vitally important.
Sarah is passionate about encouraging women to talk more openly about ovarian cancer and to recognise the symptoms. If sharing her story helps even one woman seek medical advice sooner and avoid the heartache her family experienced, she says it will be worth every mile of marathon training — even the painful ones.
Recently, Sarah joined a video call with the team at Ovarian Cancer Action, including fellow runners, the events team and lead scientist Professor Iain McNeish. Hearing personal stories and learning about the pioneering research being funded (including the potential development of a vaccine to prevent ovarian cancer) was emotional, but also deeply inspiring.
Every mile Sarah runs is in memory, in hope, and in support of a future where fewer families face the same loss.
If you would like to support her London Marathon challenge and help fund life-saving research, you can donate via her JustGiving page:
https://www.justgiving.com/page/sarah-baldock-1?utm_medium=FA&utm_source=CL
Together, through awareness and research, we can help change the future of ovarian cancer.
