Sports · Running & Athletics · 1 hr ago
Cancer survivor Rebecca Pluke, 56, qualifies for the Boston Marathon
Rebecca Pluke, a 56-year-old teacher in Cambridgeshire, has qualified for the 2027 Boston Marathon after surviving advanced bowel cancer.
She was diagnosed at 46 and was once unable to walk across a room.
After taking up running more seriously in her fifties, she now runs five to six times a week.
Her marathon times have improved as she has followed training plans, including a 3:54:32 finish in Malaga.
Pluke says running helps her feel fit and gives her a reason to keep active.
She hopes to run a personal best in Seville before Boston, and later aims to qualify for Berlin.
She encourages people to consider marathon running in their fifties, when age-group categories can make new goals achievable.
Rebecca Pluke, 56, has qualified for the 2027 Boston Marathon after surviving advanced bowel cancer.
She says she began focusing on fitness in her fifties and now runs five to six times a week.
Pluke has run four marathons in 17 months, after running her first three over 17 years.
She ran the Malaga Marathon in 3:54:32 and improved her times at the Milan and Amsterdam marathons.
Her next goals are to run a personal best in Seville and race well in Boston.
- Who
- Rebecca Pluke, a 56-year-old teacher from Hemingford Grey, Cambridgeshire.
- What
- She qualified for the 2027 Boston Marathon after surviving bowel cancer.
- When
- She qualified for Boston 2027; the qualification date is not stated.
- Where
- Hemingford Grey, Cambridgeshire; Boston is the location of the marathon she qualified for.
- Why
- Pluke says she wanted to get fit and see what she could do after surviving cancer.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Pluke survived advanced bowel cancer and at one point was unable to walk across a room.
She ran her first two marathons, a decade apart.
She began running five to six times a week and ran four marathons in 17 months.
She lost weight over nine months ahead of the Edinburgh Marathon.
Pluke is qualified to run the Boston Marathon.
- Age
- 56
- Home
- Hemingford Grey, Cambridgeshire
- Cancer history
- Survived advanced bowel cancer at 46
- Running frequency
- 5–6 times a week
- Malaga Marathon time
- 3:54:32
- Boston qualification
- 2027
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What people are saying
I love that I’m getting faster as I get older.
I feel really well.
I would encourage people to start marathon running in their 50s.