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Reece Parkinson meets the woman battling cancer through Couch to 5K: ‘I never thought I’d run again’

Sally Chambers was united with the voice that inspired her to run again.

Reece Parkinson is a coach on the Couch to 5K app. When Sally, who has stage four cancer, heard Reece’s familiar voice on 5 Live, she called in to express her appreciation for him. The two met to complete a parkrun together and Sally’s inspiration, who is usually in her headphones, was by her side.
They appeared again on 5 Live to talk about the experience.

After being diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer and liver metastasis in 2019, Sally Chamber’s life changed completely.

Sally explained, “ I didn’t actually think I’d ever run again”.

Couch to 5K is an app designed to help beginner runners gradually build up their fitness levels. It provides a structured training plan and uses different voices to coach individuals during their run. In 2023, Sally discovered the voice of 鶹ҳ presenter Reece Parkinson, and was inspired to stick to it.

Talking about their run in real-life, Sally said:

“We talked all the way round”.

Reece added, “It was amazing, meeting Sally in real life”.

Reece had never done a parkrun before but was keen to run with Sally and describes her as a “warrior”.

Sally has undergone 10 major surgeries and 18 months of chemotherapy. Determined to continue running, Sally established a schedule where in week one she has chemo and week two she runs a 5k three times. Sally says running keeps her grounded, gives her headspace and gets her outside.

She encourages others to use the app and said it’s a great tool to re/introduce running.

This clip is originally from 5 Live Drive on 4 June 2024.

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1 minute

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