EMMERDALE legend Tony Audenshaw has opened up about the poignant reason why he’s running the London Marathon this year.
Viewers know Tony for his long-running role as Bob Hope in the ITV soap.
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The star tragically lost his wife Ruth, in 2017 at the age of 43, following a battle with pancreatic cancer.
This year, Tony is is tackling the London Marathon on behalf of charity Pancreatic Cancer UK.
The aim is to raise £2 million for the first-ever early detection test for the disease – a breakthrough that could save lives.
Both he and Ruth were keen runners prior to her diagnosis and had run the London Marathon multiple times each.
Read more on Tony Audenshaw
Tony told The Sun Online: “Ruth had a big involvement with the charity, she was very grateful for the work that they did.
“So when it became the official charity partner for London Marathon and I got asked to do it, there’s no way you could say no. It felt like the right time.”
The soap star most recently ran the London Marathon a decade ago, back in 2015.
Tony said: “That was the year that Ruth was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
“Because we didn’t know, because it’s such a rubbish disease to get, we didn’t know how long she had.
“She lived for 17 months, which is actually quite a long time for people with pancreatic cancer. Half the people die within three months.
“So running sort of went on the back burner. And in that time, Ruth got in touch with Pancreatic Cancer UK and got a great deal of help from them.
He explained Ruth had worked in the NHS, which gave her an understanding of how processes worked.
Tony added: “She was sort of a kindred spirit with the people, the support nurses. She could have conversations with them either on the phone or largely on email, actually.”
“She’d have questions and she’d ask these questions and she’d get answered these questions, you know, in the right way.
“It was tremendously helpful to Ruth to have this practical information.”
On April 15, Tony unveiled Shoes For Hope – a poignant installation from Pancreatic Cancer UK highlighting the disease’s devastating impact.
Situated in Potters Field Park, it comprises 797 running shoes, which have been donated by celebrities, survivors, bereaved families, and supporters.
Alongside Tony, other celebrity donors include Olivia Williams (who survived the disease), as well as Richard Armitage, Alison Steadman, Ainsley Harriott and Zoe Ball, who all lost their mothers to pancreatic cancer.
Tony said: “I found a pair of Ruth’s trainers and all of a sudden it really resonated, what they represented.
Symptoms of pancreatic cancer
PANCREATIC cancer doesn’t always cause symptoms in its early stages.
As the cancer grows and you do begin to show signs, these may come and go and be unspecific, making it hard to diagnose, according to Pancreatic Cancer UK.
Common symptoms include:
- Indigestion – a painful, burning feeling in your chest with an unpleasant taste in your mouth
- Tummy or back pain – it may start as general discomfort or tenderness in the tummy area and spread to the back, which get worse lying down and feel better is you sit forward
- Diarrhoea and constipation – see a GP if you have runny poos for more than seven days, especially if you’ve lost weight as well
- Steatorrhoea – pale, oily poo that’s bulky, smells horrible and floats, making it hard to flush
- Losing a lot of weight without meaning to
- Jaundice – yellow skin and eyes, as well as dark pee, pale poo and itchy skin
“Ruth was a runner herself and she wore those things.”
He added: “Running was very much a sense of freedom for her.
“So they’re really representative of her life and who she was and aspects of her life.”
To sponsor Tony in the marathon, visit: https://2025tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/tony-audenshaw
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