Ollie runs the Midnight Sun Marathon to honour his friend Chris
In June 2026, Ollie Nash will take on the marathon in Tromsø to raise money for Guy's Cancer Charity in memory of his friend and colleague, Chris.
Ollie meets Chris at Brentford Football Club
Working together at Brentford FC since 2023, the pair quickly bonded over coffee, and life as an Australian in London.
“We spent a lot of time together during the week and then often at weekends we’d be at games or on bus trips abroad. We got to know each other pretty well, and then we started hanging out as friends too,” Ollie remembers.
He adds, “We’re both Australians far from home and he helped me a lot with that adjustment period. I would be missing home…but Chris helped with that and it was nice to have someone who knew what that was like. His advice was invaluable. He had a huge impact on me.”
Chris had moved to the UK in his early 20’s, living in Newcastle before settling in London with his wife, Bianca.
In 2021, Chris started treatment at Guy’s Cancer
Chris was diagnosed with cancer in 2021, he began receiving chemotherapy and radiotherapy at Guy’s Cancer Centre alongside surgeries. For a long time Chris’s colleagues, including Ollie, had no idea that Chris was being treated for cancer while still working,
“I obviously had no idea when we met, and he was always still out on the pitch training and keeping active. He’d have a bit of time off for treatment here and there, and then he’d be back out on the pitch living his dream. Throughout everything, he was such a calm, positive presence and he was just happy to be doing what he could.”
Over his four years living with cancer, Chris was in and out of remission. In 2025, his condition began to decline and in October, Chris sadly died from colorectal cancer.
