A primary school teacher from Redruth completed the London Marathon in aid of a preeclampsia charity, despite suffering from injury. 

Kat Burton travelled from Cornwall to run the London Marathon in aid of the charity Action on Preeclampsia, following her own experience of the condition. 

Sporting bib number 29784, the teacher from St Erth Primary School completed the course in six hours 53 minutes and 37 seconds, running just shy of 60,000 steps. 

She had spent 32 weeks in training; however, a knee injury sustained while running in Penzance a month ago led her to switch to lower-impact activities such as cycling and swimming. 

“I did think about deferring the marathon, but I’d been thinking about it every single day for six months so decided to go with it,” said Kat. “I was in pain but determined, and did a mixture of walking and running. I had hoped to complete it in under six hours, but seven wasn’t bad under the circumstances.”

Action on Preeclampsia works to train medical professionals to quickly spot and treat the signs of the condition, which causes high blood pressure during pregnancy and after labour. Preeclampsia can be serious for both mother and baby if not treated; across the world, a woman dies every six minutes.

Kat suffered an eclamptic seizure following the birth of her son Saxon in December 2020. She spent 13 nights in hospital, being treated for rare complications including heart, liver and kidney failure and a collapsed lung. 

“The team that cared for us in the hospital were unbelievable, especially in the midst of a global pandemic - their awareness of preeclampsia saved my life,” she said. 

“It has always been my wish to run a marathon, so when Action on Pre-Eclampsia announced it had places available on its special 30th-anniversary team, I knew I wanted to get involved. I wanted to celebrate the fact we survived, and also raise awareness for this terrible disease.”

Chris and two-year-old Saxon were in the crowd, cheering her on.

“Seeing my family at mile 14 was brilliant – I really needed that,” she said.

Other highlights included running over Tower Bridge, “just epic”, although the iconic sights of the final mile were less appreciated.

“You just want it to be over by then,” she said.

The family travelled back west on Monday, Kat’s headteacher covering her classes so she could take a wellbeing day. 

Her future running plans for a 10km fun run at Tehidy look tame in comparison. 

• You can donate to Kat’s cause at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/kat-burton