Dad Pete runs epic 10 marathon challenge in memory of his baby daughter
After running an epic 10 fundraising marathons in 10 days – wearing a 10 kg weighted vest – Pete Grimwade has donated a tenth of his proceeds to CLAPA.
Pete took on the challenge in memory of his daughter Isabella who died at just 10 weeks. He’s raised funds for 10 charities, including CLAPA and British Heart Foundation, who helped his family during Isabella’s short life.
His fundraising target was £2.5k and he’s since raised £28,324, to share equally between his nominated charities – giving CLAPA £2,832.40.
Pete said: “I never dreamed I’d get to that figure. There were days when the challenge was so tough but then seeing the fundraising figure go up and up and up, I told myself ‘That’s what I’m doing this for – I’m doing it for the charities. I’m doing it for Isabella’.”
“We have some good days and then days when the grief can just really hit.”
Pete’s daughter Isabella was born in July 2023 with multiple health problems, including a heart condition and Tessier, a very rare form of cleft.
At just 10 weeks old, she had heart failure and was quickly transferred from Brighton’s baby care unit to Evelina London Children’s Hospital for an emergency operation. Shortly after surgery, Isabella went into cardiac arrest and sadly passed away. 
“Me and my wife Charlotte talk about Isabella every single day, so the memory of her never goes away. We have some good days and then days when the grief can just really hit. I don’t think you ever move on, but you move forward one small step at a time.
“We’ve always wanted to be parents. We’ve been together since the age of 17, childhood sweethearts, and we dreamed about being parents together.
“All I ever wanted was to be a dad and, when that was taken away from me, I lost my sense of purpose.”
Pete said organising the 10-marathon challenge helped him regain some of that purpose, when he was seriously struggling with his mental health.
“It’s been a good form of therapy, to let out my emotions and feelings. There were quite a few tears along the way, it’s been a roller coaster of a journey, but I’m now a lot fitter than I was, and it’s given me a sense of resilience too.”
Pete had only ran one marathon before, in 2019, and completed his epic 10-marathon challenge with a taped-up knee, and a shin fracture.
“At the end I was drained, physically, emotionally and mentally.
“My best friend cycled the individual marathons with me, and I had Charlotte and other family and friends running and walking along stretches with me, cheering me on. It was just amazing, especially during the darker days.
“It’s been a good form of therapy, to let out my emotions and feelings.”
“Being stubborn, I fought through the shin pain during the last five marathons, because I knew I’d probably be advised not to continue. I had a boot on for a good six weeks afterwards, but I’m back to fighting fit now and, believe it or not, still enjoy going for a run every day.” 
Pete said that he and Charlotte are naturally positive people and overcome obstacles together, but the stress of the last couple of years has taken a toll.
“It wasn’t just about Isabella’s short life in hospital, it was also the stress of the pregnancy. It was a very turbulent pregnancy, and the scans never seemed to go the way we thought they would.
“On our third 12-week scan it all went quiet in the room, and they said we’ve noticed an irregularity with a heart. We were rushed off to St Thomas’s in London, and our lives have been very up and down ever since.”
“It felt like bullets coming at us at times in the hospital.”
At Isabella’s 34-week scan a problem was detected with her chin, later linked to her cleft lip, and there was excess fluid inside Charlotte’s womb. Isabella was born at 37 weeks.
“Isabella was quite unique, with all her anomalies – her heart was located on the right side, instead of the left, her ear was halfway down her cheek, and she had a rare cleft lip at the side of her mouth called a Tessier.
“But when she was born it didn’t matter – what absolutely mattered was we were totally in love with our beautiful child.
“It felt like bullets coming at us at times in the hospital, but we were just there to do everything we could for this beautiful baby. It was devastating when it came to an end, which was very unexpected.”
Pete and Charlotte were in consultation with maxiofacial specialists when they were in hospital with Isabella, and were assigned a cleft nurse.
Tessier cleft affects less than 1 in 60,000 babies. It causes the corners of the mouth to be wider than usual and can involve facial bones, muscles and soft tissue.
“We were so much in awe of CLAPA and so glad we could give something back with the marathons.”
“Our cleft nurse was absolutely amazing and supportive. She said she’d only ever seen one other person in the UK with a Tessier cleft lip.
“She ended up coming to Isabella’s funeral as well, which was lovely of her.”
Their cleft nurse also directed Pete and Charlotte to CLAPA.
“We didn’t know anything about cleft, and there’s no family history. CLAPA gave us all the information, help and support we needed by normalising cleft – giving us the reassurance and guidance of what would come next and helping us see a positive future for Isabella.
“Charlotte’s a teacher and was concerned about Isabella having problems at school, and CLAPA put our mind at rest there. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be.
“CLAPA was amazing, and it was great to know they provided facilities like counselling and help for parents, which we sadly didn’t get to use.
“We were so much in awe of CLAPA and so glad we could give something back with the marathons.”
Thank you Pete
Thank you to Pete for his generous donation, and to Pete and Charlotte for sharing their story.
