The daughter of late broadcaster Bill Turnbull has said she is “gutted” to defer her London Marathon run due to her doctor’s advice, but confirmed the donations raised will all roll over.
Flora Turnbull was due to take on the challenge later this month in memory of the former BBC Breakfast presenter – who died last September at the age of 66 after a “challenging and committed fight against prostate cancer”.
In the lead-up to the race, she had raised more than £11,000 for Prostate Cancer UK, the charity which her father was an ambassador for.
— Flora Turnbull (@FloraTurnbull2) April 4, 2023
On Tuesday, Flora wrote on Twitter: “Marathon update: on my doctor’s advice, I have had to defer my marathon place.
“If you donated, I am incredibly grateful and have been so moved by all the donations and messages. I never would have been able to predict the amount raised, all because of the generosity and kindness of others.
“I am absolutely gutted not to be running this year but all donations will roll over and still go to Prostate Cancer UK and looking on the bright side I now have a little bit longer to raise even more.”
She added that she still plans to run the marathon at a later date and thanked everyone for their support and uplifting messages, saying: “It means such a great deal to me.”
On her JustGiving page for Prostate Cancer UK, she said that she wanted to raise funds for the charity to “ensure that everyone can keep their dads, partners, brothers, sons, grandads, uncles and friends around for as long as possible”.
“My dad was involved with Prostate Cancer UK since he became unwell with the disease five years ago, so it is hugely important to me that we carry on with the work he did with them,” she added.
Today would have been the great Bill Turnbull’s 67th birthday.
Bill’s daughter Flora will be running the London Marathon this year in his memory, raising funds for @ProstateUK.
Please donate what you can, and raise a glass to a #Chairboys legend.
We miss you, Bill.
— Wycombe Wanderers (@wwfcofficial) January 25, 2023
In a statement to the PA news agency, Nicola Tallett, director of fundraising and supporter engagement at Prostate Cancer UK, said: “We completely support Flora’s decision not to run the London Marathon this year on the advice of her doctor.
“Happily, she will defer her place and is determined to complete the 26.2 miles raising funds for us at a later date in honour of her wonderful dad, Bill.
“We’ll be delighted to welcome Flora to join us in supporting our amazing team of 250 London runners on April 23.
“Prostate Cancer UK is grateful to everyone who has supported Flora to date, each one of them funding more ground-breaking research towards a screening programme, to catch prostate cancer early and save lives. This was Bill’s vision.
“Bill is greatly missed by so many people. He was a huge part of the Prostate Cancer UK family and worked tirelessly to raise awareness of a disease that affects one in eight men in the UK.
“Thanks to him bravely talking about his diagnosis and selflessly supporting our work, thousands of men spoke to their GP about prostate cancer, leading to a huge spike in referrals.”
Turnbull revealed his prostate cancer diagnosis in March 2018 and a year later detailed his treatment in a Channel 4 documentary Staying Alive.
In October 2021, he took a leave of absence from his Classic FM radio station for health reasons.
