A WOMAN thought her life was over when her husband died suddenly.

Clare Salmon, 33, was devastated when her partner David died from a rare cancer aged just 37.

She said: “No one expects to be widowed at 33. It felt like the end of the world for me.”

She said his death had come as a complete shock.

Clare said: “You can be as healthy as anything and still get cancer. David never smoked, never drank and ate healthily but he still got it.

“The cancer started in his chest cavity. He had no symptoms until he got a pain in his shoulder.

“By the time they found it, it was rampant and had spread. He died pretty much overnight, which was so shocking.”

Following her loss, the East Grinstead resident decided she wanted to do something as a tribute to David.

Though she admitted she was not a “natural runner” she set herself a challenge of running 37 races, one for each of David’s years of life.

She said: “It was David dying that made me get into running.

“It gave me a focus and it helped me deal with my loss.”

Clare started running 10k races and then took on a challenging half marathon, the Royal Parks Half Marathon, in October 2015.

But she continued to push herself and, on what would have been David’s 40th birthday in 2016, she took on the London Marathon.

“Initially I thought, ‘I can’t run 26 miles’. But I applied anyway, because I liked the idea of doing something to mark David’s 40th.

“I was quite emotional when I crossed the line.

“I was completely exhausted, my legs wouldn’t move and I couldn’t walk.

“But it was the best thing I ever did.”

During her challenge, Clare said she became fitter and stronger.

But taking up running had another unexpected impact on her life.

She met fellow runner Chris Hall and the pair got married earlier this month.

Clare said: “I’m happy with Chris but there’s always that bit of me that can never forget, and that’s hard sometimes.”

She is now near the end of her challenge with four races left to complete.

And as soon as she’s back from her honeymoon, she’ll be getting ready for the Race For Life at Dunorlan Park, Tunbridge Wells on Sunday June 2.

Through her running she has also raised more than £12,000 for Cancer Research UK.

She said: “Cancer Research UK needs money to find a cure one day. They can only do that if people fundraise.”

The charity is inviting women, children and, for the first time this year, men to join the Race for Life.

There will be events in Brighton on June 29 and 30.