'Why I am running the marathon for my mum and dad'

Her father, Trevor Slater, died of stomach cancer at the age of 62, less than a year after moving to the south to be together as a family.

Just five months later, the family was dealt another devastating blow when Jayne’s mother, Valerie, lost her battle with breast cancer aged just 58.

Jayne says the fact her parents never got to meet their grandchildren was unbearable, but it was also her two sons that got her through the hardest time of her life.

Now, cheered on by her two boys, Jack, 13, and Rhys, 11, Jayne will run the London Marathon for her mum and dad and to help find a cure for cancer.

Jayne, who lives in Bitterne Park, said: “When my Dad died, half my Mum did too. They lived next door to each other and fell in love. Dad was in the Army and Mum waited for him. They were together ever since.

“Losing them was a very hard time for me. They were loving and selfless and we were a family. Suddenly that was taken away.

“I had to keep going though. My regret is that they didn’t get a chance to meet Jack and Rhys, but I felt lucky to have them for 30 years.”

Jayne, an admissions manager for child health at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, explained she got into fitness in her teens after struggling with her weight.

However, her love for running became more than a hobby when she decided to take on her first ever marathon last year for her youngest son Rhys, who was born with the rare and life limiting brain condition agenesis of the corpus callosum.

As a result of the rare disability, Rhys, who is a pupil at Great Oaks in Southampton, also suffers from global development delay and epilepsy.

Last year Jayne ran the marathon with her husband Colin, in just three hours 46 minutes, raising thousands of pounds for Starlight Children’s Foundation, a charity which grants wishes for seriously ill children and made her son’s dream of going to Disneyland Paris a reality in 2012.

The 43-year-old, who trains at LA Fitness, said: “The London Marathon is the ultimate race and after childbirth, it was the best experience. It is just amazing.

“For me in a hectic life, running is about me time, it’s a form of escapism.”

Jayne, who has competed in various races, discovered her fast time was awarded automatic entry into this year’s event as a ‘good for age’. That means she is not obliged to fundraise for a charity, however when she discovered the official sponsor was Cancer Research UK, she did not think twice about pledging to raise as much as possible.

As well as losing her father to cancer in 2000, just four months after his diagnosis, and mother in 2001 after she had a mastectomy in 2000 following a diagnosis for the disease in 1992, she also has lost an uncle and an aunt to stomach cancer, another uncle to bone cancer and her cousin was just 40 when she lost her battle with ovarian cancer.

Jayne, who wakes up at 6am to train six times a week covering 50 miles at peak training, said: “Cancer has been in my family.

There are no words to describe how it feels to lose both parents to cancer. There are some days I desperately want my Mum and Dad. I want to raise as much as possible though to find a cure and so one day nobody has to go through that.

“Ice, snow, rain, nothing stops me getting up and going training in all weathers because all I have to do is think of my sons and of Mum and Dad and they make me go the extra mile.”

Helen Jackson, Cancer Research UK’s head of sports, said: “I was very sorry to hear about Jayne losing both her parents to cancer in a short space of time. But it is thanks to the support of people like Jayne that Cancer Research UK’s doctors, nurses and scientists are able to go on making progress in the fight against cancer.”

Jayne’s tips for the London Marathon

• Take flip flops to put on afterwards when your feet will be tired!
• Eat sensibly, prepare properly and be comfortable in what you wear.

To help Jayne fundraise for Cancer Research UK go to: virginmoneygiving.com/JayneBailey