Dartmoor pub landlady runs London Marathon in memory of loved ones lost to brain tumours

The landlady of a Dartmoor pub has raised more than £15,000 for The Brain Tumour Charity after completing the London Marathon while battling multiple chronic health conditions.

Dawn Michelin, who runs The Horse and Groom in Bittaford, took on the 26.2-mile course on Sunday 27 April 2025, describing it as “one of my most amazing experiences”.

She was seen on the BBC’s Gabby Logan’s Reasons to Run and featured in live marathon day coverage during an interview at the Cutty Sark with presenter Abby Cook.

“I was definitely the one with a limp in a cape,” said Dawn, who wore a specially sponsored cape printed by local business Stick 'n' Stitch. 

“The crowds throughout London were just incredible, from youngsters waiting for high-fives and handing out sweets, to adults waiting outside pubs to hand you a pint. Something maybe I should have gone for instead of electrolytes!”

Dawn was raising money in memory of her father Jim, who died of a glioblastoma brain tumour in 2014. 

She has also lost her best friend Hazel, her granddad James, and cousin Andrew to brain tumours.

Since 2002, she has led fundraising efforts at her pub, but since 2014 she has focused her mission to make The Horse and Groom “a business against brain tumours”.

This year, her marathon followed a daily 10-mile running challenge, an effort that took its toll on her body.

“My health was a worry towards the end of my marathon training,” she said. 

“Two weeks before race day I was struggling to even walk up the stairs.”

Dawn lives with ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, osteoarthritis and small vessel diseases of the brain, all of which affect her mobility.

Her right side is particularly weak, with ongoing numbness.

The London Marathon organisers offered her a support runner due to her disabilities, and Dawn chose her husband Olly for the role.

“Now Olly annoys me at the best of times,” she said. 

“So I thought if he was there, I would be trying my hardest to keep several steps ahead of him. Being together for 30 years, plus running a business together - distance is key.”

But his support proved crucial when Dawn began to suffer severe pain during the race, triggering a hypertensive crisis and spinal cord seizures that left her unable to stand at mile 17.

“I said to my support runner, the husband, I have to quit. He looked like he’d been slapped with a wet kipper as he was having the time of his life.”

Despite the pain, she refused to give up. 

“I got up and basically hobbled the rest of the way, but I did have to stop every time I had a spinal seizure. Sadly, that was quite a lot. But I made it and I don’t regret a second of it.”

She is now awaiting MRI results and still experiences agonising pain when walking.

To date, her running challenge has raised £15,004.92, plus £1,677.25 in Gift Aid, for The Brain Tumour Charity.

Brain tumours remain the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under 40 in the UK. More than 12,000 people are diagnosed each year with a primary brain tumour.

Research into the condition receives less than 3 per cent of the UK’s national cancer research funding.

Dawn has now signed up for the 2026 London Marathon and is also supporting St Margaret’s Hospice’s Every Moment Counts appeal, a cause close to her heart after the care her best friend Hazel received.

She has become a volunteer for The Brain Tumour Charity, helping to support others affected by the disease and offering advice on fundraising.

“We will continue to be a business against brain tumours,” she said. 

“Owning a pub is the perfect hub to raise awareness and get people talking.”

The Horse and Groom continues to run community fundraising events including Sunday charity bingo in June and a monthly quiz night on the first Thursday of every month.

Dawn’s JustGiving page remains open for donations: www.justgiving.com/page/dawns-shuffling