Charley’s Marathon Running is a Family Affair
Former trampolinist Charley Dodson knows all about the ups and downs of marathon running.
Charley is a sports therapist who lives in Wheathampstead with husband Phil and young children Finn, 5 and Daisy, 2. She has already taken part in the Paris Marathon in 2017 and the Copenhagen event two years later.
“Both the marathons were tough as the temperature was around 26 degrees, which was higher than I anticipated,” Charley said. “In Paris I started the race with some friends and I finished in a time of 4 hours, 42 minutes.
“I chose Copenhagen because one of my best friends lives there. I completed the course in 4 hours, 55 minutes. Both runs were relatively smooth as I did plenty of training with my dalmatian Fletcher and also ran a few half marathons beforehand.”
Sport plays a big part in Charley’s life as she explains: “I was an elite trampolinist until the age of 21 and competed for Great Britain. I met Phil through the sport.”
It seems that sport runs in the family as Phil is now one of the Great Britain trampoline coaches and Charley’s parents, Kevin and Susie, have both run the London Marathon. They also completed the Great North Run a few times.Even Charley’s uncle, Andy Halliday, gets into the act. “We call him ‘Fuzzy’ as he used to work for the Met Police before retiring. Andy was also the manager of Great Britain’s hockey team. He’s run the London Marathon six times and the last three times he’s dribbled a hockey ball all the way round. He finally hung up his stick after last year’s run!”
Now Charley has signed up to run the 2026 London Marathon to raise money for our Oxygen Therapy charity. Our Centre is a special place for Charley, as she explains: “My dad was diagnosed with MS 20 years ago and as I was keen to pursue a physio-related career I decided to do some work experience sessions for the charity. I wanted to know how best to support him if he ever needed it.
“Thankfully my dad’s condition was diagnosed early and he’s been lucky to be feeling very well now, spending weekends maintaining the house and garden, walking the dog and being an amazing grandad!” (See photo below)
Our Letchworth-based charity has been providing Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for nearly 40 years. It’s a complementary therapy that can help some people with a wide range of conditions, including MS, cancer, Parkinson’s disease, ME, fibromyalgia, Long Covid and soft tissue sports injuries.
If you would like to sponsor Charley you can here: https://2026tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/charley-dodson
