Lianne Ran for The Mortimer Society
Brighton Marathon
Fundraising Achievement
12th April 2026
Money raised £1746
On the 12th April 2026, Lianne Winter took part in the Brighton Marathon. Her mission was to raise money on behalf of the Mortimer Society and to cross the finish line. Two close family members were cared for and supported by the society, for many years. Her Auntie Carole at Birling and Uncle Michael at Frindsbury House. Lianne also shared her birthday with Michael and his love of the Beatles too! Lianne is a Radiographer by profession and works and lives with her two teenage children in West Sussex.
I wanted to find out how Lianne had prepared for the marathon, alongside her work and family commitments. So, an interview time was arranged via WhatsApp.
Early running She began running in 2013/14 and increased the distance she covered over time. In this way running a half marathon seemed an achievable goal. Lianne completed the Royal Parks Half Marathon in September ‘25 and then began her training in earnest for the Brighton Marathon, which she had registered for in 2025 too.
Training and race preparation Lianne prepared for her run with the support of the ‘Runna’ app and trained alone, as her work hours meant that she had to go out very early morning or later after work. She did seek advice from friends who had completed the Brighton Marathon in previous years, and they had advised her to monitor her heart rate, and to avoid getting too hot as these factors make it physically difficult to keep going. Her biggest challenges in training were the very wet and cold conditions that we’ve had over the winter and early spring, plus maintaining motivation to get out there and just get the training done! Her schedule included gym sessions with specific targets provided by the app and a build-up of distances each week. A foot injury which needed time to heal, plus a bout of flu which lingered, interrupted her preparation, but she managed get back on track. Finally, a big help to formulating her race plan, came via a past competitor of several Brighton Marathon runs. He made a video app of the course with advice and strategies, as to how to tackle different parts of the very challenging course. This plan gave her confidence at tricky points in the course environment, although the course route was slightly altered from the previous year, so there would still be some unfamiliar areas to negotiate.
Race day. Lianne arrived in Brighton at 8.00 am before the road closures came into force. The competitors were organised into 8 Waves, depending on their predicted times, as over 14,000 people were taking part. She was able to watch the different groups of athletes setting off at the start, taking in all the dynamics of the various groups and drinking in the atmosphere. The first Wave to start were the elite athletes followed by five more Waves of runners. Lianne was in Wave 8 and started her race at 10.40am. Her race plan was focused on keeping to her own race plan and staying well. This included keeping hydrated, refuelling at the correct times, monitoring her heart rate, keeping cool and most importantly crossing the finish line! At Mile 7 she first came into contact with Harry, who was a ‘sweeper’ on a bike tasked with ensuring the runners were ok and giving encouragement and support. Lianne really appreciated the number of people who were working on the day to ensure the runners safety throughout the event.
Crisis Point for Lianne, her crisis point was between mile 16 and 17 where she was expecting to be able to see her work colleagues and family as she came towards the pier. She just couldn’t see them until she got past the pier and could see a red ‘go ninja!’ helium balloon held by a friend and her mum’s vivid yellow jacket! She was so relieved to finally see everybody and after some hugs and 5 minutes refuelling with a gel sachet and a quarter section of Lucho’s protein bar, she left her family and friends to complete the course. Harry (the sweeper) was there again on his bike towards the end of the race, encouraging and ensuring that she crossed that magical finishing line, where family and friends were again waiting to cheer her through. A wonderful achievement! Congratulations and thanks to Lianne for her commitment to completing this formidable challenge on behalf of the Mortimer Society.
The next day Lianne had sensibly booked the next day off work and was a bit sore in the morning, but managed a park walk on Monday evening. She went to work the next day wearing her medal and kept it on all day! Finally, she assured us that this was her first and last marathon!
