A CHEF diagnosed with incurable cancer has vowed to run her 600th marathon by the summer.
Doctors diagnosed Brenda O’Keeffe, 48, from Co Cavan, with a rare and untreatable type of bone marrow cancer last year.
The resilient patient ran her first race aged 31 and has completed marathons in London, Paris, Madrid, Frankfurt and Chicago — crossing the line 576 times so far.
But Brenda is not letting her illness get in the the way of reaching the magic milestone.
She said: “I thought I would have completed my thousandth marathon [before falling ill].
“But I’m hopeful by summer I’ll achieve my 600th marathon — God willing, by June.”
After poor health and months of hospitalisation, in March 2024 doctors said she “might” have cancer, but one so rare it was hard for them to identify.
Eventually, it was confirmed to be incurable Amyloidosis AL, which affected her heart, kidneys, liver, bone marrow and spleen — to the point she nearly died.
Astonishingly, on the day that Brenda was relearning how to walk straight on a hospital ward, she had applied to take part in a local 160km race.
She said: “When you learn you have cancer, your entire life shifts.