WHEN Jenny Baker told her cancer specialist she wanted to run the seven-mile trip to each chemotherapy appointment, he was stunned.

He took convincing but for Jenny it became a key weapon in her cancer fight.

6 Jenny Baker told her cancer specialist she wanted to run the seven-mile trip to each chemotherapy appointment

Running along the Thames from her West London home to appointments, Jenny also did 5k races at weekends — and a half marathon just six weeks after her radio- therapy ended.

Today she runs the London Marathon to celebrate getting the all-clear.

Jenny, who ran a total of 853 miles with cancer, says: “Through all that treatment I kept running. It was a way to hold on to my identity when I was losing everything, and helped me get myself back once the treatment was over.

6 For brave Jenny, pictured second left, running became a key weapon in her cancer fight

“London will be my first full marathon since my diagnosis. I can’t wait.”

The youth charity worker found a lump in her breast two years ago, just as she was about to mark her 50th birthday by running FIVE marathons.

At first Jenny put off ­seeking treatment. When she finally went to Ealing ­Hospital, she got the ­diagnosis all women dread.

After breaking the awful news to husband Jonny, 52, a trainer for a charity, and sons Joel, 27, and Harry, 25, Jenny struggled to cope.

6 Today Jenny, pictured above with husband Jonny, runs the London Marathon to celebrate getting the all-clear

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6 Youth charity worker Jenny found a lump in her breast two years ago, just as she was about to mark her 50th birthday by running five marathons

She says: “I was fit, I’d only smoked the odd cigarette, exercised regularly, ate healthily . . . how could I have cancer when I’d cycle 50 miles at the weekend and run to work in the week?”

She underwent chemo to shrink the tumour before having a full mastectomy.

Radiotherapy and hormone therapy followed.

6 Following chemo and a mastectomy, Jenny, pictured above with pal Jon, was given the green light for anything short of full marathons Credit: Collect

Now Jenny recalls: “After treatment started, I splashed in puddles and squelched through mud. I felt alive, alert and slightly in awe of my body. I asked my consultant if I could run to my chemotherapy sessions. Nobody had ever asked him that before.”

Jenny was given the green light for anything short of full marathons.

She says: “I made sure I didn’t go more than a couple of days without running.

“Just as the oncologist ­prescribed drugs to target the cancer, I prescribed myself running. Plus there is a clear link between running and better mental health.”

6 'Running helped me hold on to my identity' says Jenny, pictured above with her family, 'And it gave me something to focus on through the long months of treatment' Credit: Collect

Last April, after treatment had ended, Jenny ran a half- marathon in Palestine — “an emotional run”, she says.

She adds: “I am fortunate the cancer was caught before it had spread too far.

“Running helped me hold on to my identity and give me something to focus on through the long months of treatment.”

- Run for Your Life: How One Woman Ran Circles Around Breast Cancer, by Jenny Baker (Pitch Publishing) £8.99.