Tony Audenshaw is currently gearing up to run the TCS London Marathon on April 27.
The Emmerdale star, who plays Bob Hope, isn’t new to the gruelling world of training for the 26.2 mile journey, as the actor has ran London 14 times in the past.
And that isn’t taking into consideration all of the other locations he’s ticked off his list!
Tony is running the marathon for the charity Pancreatic Cancer UK. He is also doing it in memory of his late wife Ruth, who died in 2017 after her own diagnosis.
Despite the big event being just days away, Tony isn’t feeling nervous about it – he’s well-experienced in this field, after all.
‘I’m not bothered about it that much’, he told me.
‘Because I know what to expect, I think in a way because I’ve run London 14 times in the past. So I know what’s ahead of me. Do you know what I mean? I’m sort of half excited.’
‘I’m not nervous or worried about it. I mean, I say that I had a dream the other day, I had a marathon dream. Just worried that I couldn’t find it, which is quite natural. But I suppose it’s normal at this time of year. I feel okay. I feel quite fit, which is really good.’
Tony has contributed to the charity’s project, Shoes of Hope
As the Charity of the Year for the 2025 London Marathon, Pancreatic Cancer UK has unveiled a powerful public installation. 797 trainers will be on display in a project called Shoes of Hope, each representing a life lost to pancreatic cancer every month in the UK.
Tony told me about the contribution he is making: ‘It is art installation by the side of Tower Bridge. And it is there to represent the 797 people who die of pancreatic cancer on average every month. And it’s there for the day for people to come along and see. I’ve got a pair of Ruth’s trainers there to represent Ruth’s life. I think it’s going to be a really moving piece.’
Ruth, just like Tony, was incredibly dedicated to running, but her passion only started once she saw her husband partaking.
‘Ruth did, I think, 10 marathons and she did a couple of ultras’, Tony smiled.
‘We both got our best ever time in any marathon at the London Marathon in 2006. So it’s a very special place for us. And I last ran it in 2015. And that year was the year that Ruth was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
‘She was only young. She was only in her early 40s. She lived for 17 months after that, which is quite a long time for somebody with pancreatic cancer. Half the people who have it die within three months.’
When Pancreatic Cancer UK approached Tony and asked him to take part in the marathon, he knew 2025 was the right time.
‘The charity were brilliant with her when she was ill. She got in contact with them pretty much as soon as she was diagnosed. And she was in regular contact on the forums and in regular contact with the support nurses. Ruth was a health professional herself. And so she sort of knew how it all worked. And they were brilliant with her.
‘And when she was still with us, she was keen on fundraising. We put some quizzes on. We did a big show and fundraised for the charity. And only about a month before she died, she gave some of the cells from her tumour to research to be used for immunotherapy.’
He added: ‘The big problem with pancreatic cancer is that it’s got quite vague symptoms. It might be bloating, people might lose a bit of weight and have floating stools, but it could be any number of things.
‘And it’s only really what happened in Ruth’s case was that her tumour grew in the head of the pancreas and it nudged on the bile duct, which meant that she got jaundiced. So she went yellow. So she knew something was wrong. But by that stage, the cancer was quite late on and difficult to operate on.
‘But with this breath test that they’re working on, if somebody has these vague symptoms and they go to the GPs, hopefully in a couple of years they’re going to be able to take this simple breath test.
‘It’ll pick up on these volatile organic compounds, they’re called VOCs, and then it’ll fast track people to be able to have a CT scan and see if there is anything sinister in there. I know that if she’d have been helping in the development of that, she’d have been pleased about it.’
Tony has reached 25 years at Emmerdale
Tony has played Bob Hope since 2000. The beloved character is father to twins Cathy and Heath (Gabrielle and Sebastian Dowling), and doesn’t exactly have a lot of luck when it comes to the world of romance.
Looking at you, Wendy Posner.
Reflecting on his milestone 25th year, Tony said: ‘It’s going to work and spending time with people that you like and get on with and doing interesting different things every day. So it’s an absolute blessing really. Whenever you go in, you’re telling different stories.
‘You might be doing comedy one day and the next day doing really sad stuff and then just you’re there to facilitate a move of the cameras in some shots. You’ve got different functions to do every day. And I think as long as I go in and treat it as that, I’m trying to make everything work.’
‘I’d love to do a bit more comedy’, he noted, pondering over Bob’s future.
‘I mean, it’s been brilliant having these really big stories over the last few years. You know, obviously he lost his business partner with Bernice, and then Wendy had an affair with a doctor, and then Bob died in the street. Bob had a cardiac arrest. He was brought back to life by the doctor. His son died. He’s gone through all the grieving process.
‘So there’s not been room for many laughs, you know, because it’s a bit inappropriate. He’s got no partner at the moment, so maybe something might happen there. But I really don’t know what they’ve got planned for me.’
‘I’m happy to do whatever they give me.’
