A North London para athlete has taken on the Goodwood Half Marathon in a bid to become the fastest half-marathon runner of someone with a hemiplegia – one-sided muscle weakness as a result of previous brain tumour treatment.
Anthony Bryan ran 13.1 miles on Sunday 19th October in an incredible time of two hours and three minutes, beating the previous record of two hours and 15 minutes, in support of Brain Tumour Research.
Anthony has no peripheral vision in his left eye, and relies almost entirely on the right side of his body – the life-changing effects of complications following treatment for an astrocytoma brain tumour. Diagnosed in 1996 at the age of six, he later took up running as a teenager in hopes of coming to terms with his disability.
Now a fitness instructor, Anthony won three gold medals at the Disability Sport Nationals in 2006 and already holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon run with hemiplegia after running the 2024 TCS London Marathon in a time of 05:49:02.
Anthony said: "After my brain tumour I was always told by medical professionals 'unfortunately you’ll never be able to do so many things'. But I’ve learnt in life that it’s up to you. You can either accept what they say or you can do your best to prove them wrong! That’s what I did.
"Now I hope my journey can inspire and motivate all those who are going through tough times at the moment, and show there is hope and a future. You just have to never give up. I'm proud to be running for Brain Tumour Research."
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