18-year-old with type 1 diabetes decided to ‘take back control’ and run London Marathon 2026
An 18-year-old with type 1 diabetes decided to “take back control” and train to run the London Marathon, which is now just days away on April 26.
At the age of five, Keziah Thorman and her identical twin sister Oriana were diagnosed and having seen her mother Robyn run the London Marathon a number of times for Breakthrough T1D UK, she decided now was the time to do it herself.
Keziah and Oriana were inseparable as children, with the same laugh, likes and friends, but everything changed when Oriana was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.
Keziah’s online fundraising page reads: “Overnight her world became blood tests, insulin and carb counting. I stayed on the outside of it – watching her, watching my parents try to stay strong. I was scared for her… and so grateful it wasn’t me. But a few months later, it was. Diabetes became part of my life too.”
At 18 years old, the twins continue to live with the “exhausting” condition which is not just a few injections a day, but a constant mental and physical load that affects everything – including school, sleep, food and friends.
The fundraising page continues: “But turning 18 made me want to take back some control. To remind myself I’m more than this condition. So I set myself a huge goal: to run the London Marathon on 26th April 2026, and along the way taking on other running challenges. Some will be hard. But I’ll keep running – for me, for Oriana, and for everyone living with type 1.
“For me, running is a way of saying: diabetes doesn’t get the final word. And I’m doing it with my mum who started running for us, holding onto hope that one day a cure will be found.”
Speaking to the Chronicle & Echo, mother Robyn was asked to summarise the experience of her twin daughters being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of five.
“It felt like your whole world had fallen apart from what you thought it would be,” she said. “It’s like an uninvited guest in your life that you never wanted. You go to the hospital expecting to be told how to look after your children, not how to live with an incurable disease.
“You grieve what you thought was going to be a normal life. We don’t have diabetes in the family and awareness is one of the things to come out of this. We didn’t have a clue.
“This is something they constantly don’t want to have to think about and they want to be like everyone else. They can’t eat what they want and their blood sugar can go awol from an emotion, causing them to be wiped out for the day.”
Robyn says she is in “absolute awe” of Keziah and her decision to run the London Marathon, as she knows how hard it is and that the experience will be 10 times more difficult for her daughter compared to anyone without diabetes.
“One thing could derail her whole race,” said Robyn. “She is on par for a time of three hours and 40 minutes, but there are so many uncontrollables. Nerves can impact her blood sugar and it’s an unmanageable illness.”
Keziah and Robyn have been working hard since July 2025, as the 18-year-old did not run previously and the aim was to get her fitness up by Christmas to commence typical marathon training from then.
“The thing about the charity is that they are very much looking for a cure, not just a greater understanding,” said Robyn. “They are cutting through with research and it makes us wonder if there is the possibility that both of them will one day be cured.”