Don't stop me NOW!

Discovering she had breast cancer gave mental health campaigner Sally Orange, 51, one more good reason to run

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If you’ve ever watched a marathon and spotted a human-sized piece of fruit powering through the throng of runners, it could well have been Sally Orange. She has run a total of 87 marathons — and has been dressed up as everything from an orange (of course!) to a banana, a strawberry and even a pod of peas.

‘I love the fact that my costumes make people smile,’ says Sally. ‘But my real motive is to get people to stop and chat - so I can find a way to say, "I want people to start talking about mental health."’

Sally has had her own share of struggles, and in 2019, it was her mental health that led to her being medically discharged from the army, where she had served as a physiotherapist for 22 years. Now a professional mental health and motivational speaker, the memory of those darker times has stuck.

‘For years I felt I just wasn't good enough,’ she says. ‘I didn't do well in my A levels, and I got even lower grades in my retakes. It took me six years of applying to the University of Nottingham - and being rejected - before I finally managed to gain a place to study Physiotherapy there. Ironically, 30 years later, I was awarded an honorary doctorate by the university for my services to Physiotherapy and Mental Health.'