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Alan Johnstone is preparing to take on a formidable triathlon challenge in memory of his late wife, Anneka, who passed away from a brain tumour just six months after her diagnosis. Despite still being a novice swimmer, Alan plans to compete in the Austrian Ironman event, which includes a 2.4-mile open-water swim, a 112-mile bike ride, and a full marathon of 26.2 miles. This undertaking represents his most demanding physical test yet, as he pushes himself to honor Anneka’s legacy and fundraise for brain tumour research.
Alan and Anneka were childhood sweethearts, sharing sixteen years together before tragedy struck. Anneka, a former NHS dietitian, was diagnosed with an aggressive glioblastoma in 2019, when their daughter, Sienna, was just over a year old. Alan recalls the rapid decline: “It started with some balance issues and at first the doctors thought it might have been herpes simplex virus (HSV). She was given antibiotics but there was no improvement after 24 hours.” Following an MRI, they were confronted with the devastating news that Anneka had a brain tumour. He described the terrifying progression: “It went from feeling dizzy to being in a wheelchair in a month,” and called the experience “absolutely devastating.”
Since Anneka’s death, Alan, a former RAF engineer and current NHS clinical engineer, has undertaken several endurance events including the London and Boston marathons, raising over £100,000 to support research into brain tumours—the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among children and young adults under 40 in Scotland. He is now targeting £100,000 for The Brain Tumour Charity through his Ironman campaign. The Austrian course appealed to Alan because its marathon segment is less hilly compared to others in Europe, though the freshwater lake swim poses a unique challenge due to lower buoyancy compared to seawater. Alan admits to being a “poor swimmer” and confessed, “To go from that to swimming 2.4 miles in open water is pretty scary because I can’t really swim at the moment.”
Alan draws strength from his six-year-old daughter, Sienna, who inspires him to keep pushing forward despite the hardship of raising her without her mother. Explaining how he has talked to Sienna about Anneka, Alan said, “Initially I told her that her mummy got a sore head and the doctors couldn’t fix her. We show her videos and pictures and always talk about what mummy was like.” With this motivation, Alan continues his fundraising efforts, hoping to make a difference in battling a disease that he says “tore his family apart.” He stressed the urgency of improving survival rates, noting, “Most people die within a year of diagnosis, it’s horrific. Anything to improve that, whether it’s a treatment to prolong life or a cure would be amazing.”
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