Candice Brown: ‘I’ll hate every second of the London Marathon, but grandad (and cake) will spur me on’

Great British Bake Off winner Candice Brown has said she has hated training for the London Marathon — but that the memory of her grandfather who had Alzheimer’s will spur her on.

The 34-year-old, who won the baking competition in 2016, said she’d “not fallen in love with running” during her nine-month training period.

However, she added that knowing people with the condition, including Dame Barbara Windsor, and how it affects their lives would give her the strength to complete the 26-mile course on Sunday.

Brown is running for the Virgin Money London Marathon’s main charity this year, Dementia Revolution, a joint initiative between the Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer’s Research UK. She has raised £2,500 so far.

Dame Barbara was diagnosed with the condition in 2014. Her husband Scott Mitchell is also running the marathon along with several of his wife’s former EastEnders co-stars.

Speaking to the Evening Standard, Brown said: “The whole thing has been awful. Most people say: ‘Oh I fell in love with running.’ Not me. I hate every second. In all honesty, I think I will have to be carried [across the finish line].”

Brown, who this year opened a gastro pub, The Green Man in Eversholt, Bedfordshire, with her brother Ben, added: “My grandad Fred had Alzheimer’s and we as a family all felt the impact of living with Alzheimer’s. It is, quite frankly, really shit. He was the head of our family and to see him deteriorate in front of our eyes was heart-breaking.

“With Babs [Dame Barbara], I was lucky enough to meet her a couple of years ago and her diagnosis has devastated me.

“I may moan and groan the whole way round on my runs. But my moans and groans are for a bigger and better reason and are worth it in the end.” Brown said she has struggled to fit training and eating properly around opening the pub.

“Food has been one of the things I have struggled with most,” she said. “Which is weird as I think about food 24 hours a day. I mean, obviously I have been eating cakes. And I have been relying a lot on those energy gel things.”

Asked if being a PE teacher before she won Bake Off had helped, Brown said: “No, God no. There is a big difference between teaching kids to run the 1,500 metres and running a marathon. I feel bad for making them all do cross-country runs in winter now.”

However, she said her husband Liam Macaulay, whom she married last year in France surrounded by her fellow Bake Off contestants, had been a support. “Liam has been running with me, but he is about 8ft tall so he just strides along and messes around. And my brother has run with me too. They have been really supportive. My mum, dad, Liam will all be there to cheer me on.”

This year, the total money raised by runners will surpass the £1 billion mark for the first time since the event was launched in 1981.