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When I first spoke with Louise Butcher on Wellbeing Interrupted Episode 20, she had just made history as the first woman to run the London Marathon topless after two single mastectomies. Now, she’s back, and so much has happened since then—her story continues to break barriers and inspire thousands. 

 

Surviving Breast Cancer: How Louise Butcher Turned Trauma into Strength 

Louise was diagnosed with lobular breast cancer in April 2022, just weeks after receiving a clear mammogram. Because lobular cancer is harder to detect on scans, she only found it through self-examination—a reminder of how vital it is for women to regularly check their breasts. 

By August 2022, she had undergone two single mastectomies. Like many women, she struggled with the emotional and physical impact of losing her breasts. But instead of letting it define her, she turned to running—not just as a fitness challenge, but as a way to reclaim her body and her confidence. 

 

Running a Marathon After Mastectomies—And Doing It Topless 

 

Most people take months, even years, to recover from major surgery. But just six weeks after her second mastectomy, Louise laced up her running shoes and completed a full marathon. 

Then, she took it a step further. 

She ran topless—not for attention, but to send a message: flat chests after breast cancer are normal, and no one should feel ashamed of their scars. 

 

Going Viral: The Topless Marathon Runner Who Inspired the World 

 

Louise’s bold act of self-acceptance caught international attention. She went viral, appearing on news outlets around the world, and became a symbol of strength and confidence for women navigating life after breast cancer. 

But she didn’t stop there. 

She earned a Guinness World Record as the fastest female marathon runner with a double mastectomy. What’s even more incredible? Another woman in Australia later broke her record—proof that Louise’s movement is inspiring other women to step forward and own their scars. 

 

Wear Your Scars with a Smile: Louise Butcher’s Message of Self-Love 

One of the most powerful moments in our conversation was when Louise shared her now-famous Instagram reel with the message: 
"Wear your scars with a smile. They saved your life." 

For many women, the scars left behind after breast cancer surgery carry pain and trauma. But for Louise, they symbolize strength, survival, and a confidence she never imagined possible. 

“This isn’t about minimizing the trauma,” she told me. “A mastectomy is brutal—there’s loss, there’s grief. But these scars saved my life.” 

 

London Marathon 2024: Running Topless to Support Breast Cancer Now 

Louise is now preparing for her next major challenge—running topless in the London Marathon this April to raise awareness and funds for Breast Cancer Now, a leading UK charity supporting those affected by breast cancer. 

Her mission? To continue breaking the stigma around mastectomies and prove that confidence isn’t about what’s on the outside—it’s about embracing who you are. 

If you’d like to support Louise’s fundraising efforts, check out the links in the show notes. And if you haven’t already, be sure to listen to our first conversation in Episode 20 to hear more about her journey. 

 

Show Resources 

 

• Support Breast Cancer Now: [Fundraising Link]
• Listen to Louise’s first episode on Wellbeing Interrupted: [Episode 20]  

Follow Louise:

• Instagram: @louisebutcher39
• Facebook: Louse Bernadette Butcher
• TikTok: The Topless Runner

 

 

About Louise Butcher 

 

Louise Butcher is a breast cancer thriver, marathon runner, and advocate for body confidence and mastectomy awareness. She made history as the fastest women to run the London Marathon sot mastectomy and is now leading a movement to normalise scars, redefine femininity, and empower others to embrace their bodies without shame.  

 

Transcript Episode 60: Topless Runner Returns – Catching Up with Louise Butcher 

[00:00:00] 

Teisha Rose: Hey there, Teisha here and welcome to episode 60 of Wellbeing Interrupted. Hopefully you've had a good week. I've had a good one. Um, last week I actually went down and saw my neurologist, so it's been a busy few weeks. Um, I saw my surgeon one week. Oncologists are next, and now I saw my neurologist had an MRI and everything is perfect.

So like with my PET scan, with my cancer, no activity Ms. Wise, which is amazing. So it's just motivated me more and more to. Get my mobility back and work on my strengths and more because activity wise, MS has remained inactive for over 10 years, which is amazing. And I'm also really excited because today you get [00:01:00] to listen to my interview with Louise Butcher.

I mentioned Louise last episode also, if you've been around for a while. Way back last year in episode 20, Louise was actually one of my first interviews when my voice was pretty ordinary muscle tension, dysphonia wise. Um, so if you don't know if you are new to this podcast, some of the earlier episodes I was struggling with my.

Voice, so if I sound a bit strange, that's why. Um, but yeah, after this, have a listen. Otherwise,

louise again shares how she ran topless in the London Marathon last year. That's when I saw her on the Today Show in Australia and reached out to her. For me. I love chatting to Louise because she's actually the only person I've spoken to who's also gone through two single mastectomies. So we recorded for a while, we [00:02:00] turned the button off and then chatted for ages as well because we are very aligned in our approach to cancer.

Not the running bit, but our mindset in relation to what we're dealing with. So yeah, I hope you enjoy this episode. I won't give too much away, but Louise has been very busy since we chatted to her last, so enjoy the episode.  [00:03:00] 

, so welcome Louise. Welcome back. You're the first guest I have had return, so welcome again to Wellbeing Interrupted. 

Louise Butcher: Oh, I love being back. It was so, oh, I've got a growly dog.

Sorry. No, I love it. I love, um, talking about, um, my story and what, how it's enabling such empowerment. Um, so yeah, thanks for having me on again. 

Teisha Rose: You're welcome. You're welcome. And that's not Louise's stomach. It's Louise has a dog and a lap, which is great because our dogs are outside and they might start barking.

So if that happens, we've both got our dogs here, so all is good. Yeah. So, and what I'll do is. I'll put a link in our original, um, conversation where we talked a lot about both of our journeys, um, with having double [00:04:00] mastectomies or two single mastectomies. Yeah. Um, but yeah. Can, for those who haven't heard your story, can you just, I guess again, share when you're diagnosed with breast cancer and when you ended up being flat chested?

Louise Butcher: Yeah, so it was in, um. I was diagnosed in April, 2022, uh, and it was actually three weeks after I'd had. Uh, a clear mammogram. Um, 'cause the type I was diagnosed with, which is lobular breast cancer doesn't show up very well on scans, but it was only because I'd had a really good self-check. Um, because I've got the confidence from the mammogram, um, that I found a tiny, tiny little thickening.

Like, not like a lump lump, but just, it was, it was a bit odd. So, um, yeah, I kind of went to the doctors, they sent me to the breast clinic. And yeah, they found five centimeters worth disease. And then in the June I had my first mastectomy and then I advocated to have the second breast off in the August because I couldn't [00:05:00] handle just having the one breast.

Teisha Rose: That's right though I remember now because we're our, our stories. Um, a very aligned, not the running bit, but I was in February, March 22. Yeah. Um, so yeah, and the same, it was a decision which was a lot easier for us in Australia. Um, I remember from our conversation to have both breasts off because I had it automatically.

But it was more difficult, wasn't it for you? 

Louise Butcher: Yeah, it was because on the NHS, um, in the UK they don't like to take off. Uh, a healthy breast. And at that time they assumed that was, and it was when they took it off. I was a bit worried because lobular breast cancer doesn't show on the scans that I didn't know it wasn't there or it was there and it was so, it was just driving me mad and the fact that I had one breast reminding me.

Of what I'd, um, what I'd lost. I couldn't move forward in what I was, uh, so it was really confusing having won. So yeah, I [00:06:00] really, I had to advocate that. And in the end, my surgeon, who was a lovely lady, she, um, did it under symmetry and mental health. I. 

Teisha Rose: Okay. That's good. Yeah, because I was exactly the same. I thought it is, is that reminder?

You're right. Yeah. And it, it looks strange and, and trying to then wear a bra and put something in there to make sure it's the same size. Yeah. I didn't, I didn't like it. No. No, it's, 

Louise Butcher: it's not, it doesn't feel, um, comfortable or like, now I'm flat and I've adapted to being flat. It's, it feels right, but that just never felt right 'cause how could it, I, I just don't understand how it could.

Teisha Rose: Yeah, no, I agree. And it was interesting. I actually saw my oncologist today and she mentioned that a lot more people are deciding to go flat chested. And she said, you know, it was surprising. And I'm like, no, it's not. It's because, you know, that feels [00:07:00] a lot better. Um, so yeah, so it's good. And I think, you know, that's a lot too with the open discussions people are having as well, and not having to hide the fact that they are.

Louise Butcher: Of course it is. And I think, I think if you can see something, you can be something, can't you? And I think that's the problem with, as it was before, um, is the whole hiding. It just makes everything way more, um, anx, the anxiety's there 'cause you're sort of imagining what it looks like. Whereas when you see it, which is kind of what I do, it's not really that bad.

Teisha Rose: Yeah. Yeah, I agree. And um, so yeah, you mentioned it there. How did you go from having two single mastectomies to making a decision to not only recover and be able to run a marathon, but decide to do that topless? 

Louise Butcher: Yeah, I think so the two were intertwined because the recovery came with the running the marathon and with going [00:08:00] topless.

Mm-hmm. Um, both physically and mentally. They both, um, kind of, uh, they, they were sort of running off each other. So I ran during my mastectomies, um, and after. I ran during radiotherapy. I ran the marathon six weeks after the mastectomy, and then I went topless the April following. And that really helped with my accepting how I was, because it was kind of like saying, I've accepted this 'cause I had.

By then, because to be honest, if they hadn't accepted it to a point, I would've found it difficult to do. Yeah. But there was still a lot of healing and acceptant acceptance to go on. That's why the running really helped. And then it was kind of like, well, if I can accept it. Um, and a lot of the reason why a lot of women, I feel from what my research do not, is because of the social stigma.

So that's coming from the outside in. So I thought, well, if I put the sort of. It onshore and we find that stigma and we [00:09:00] get the discussions around it. Um, we can start to heal outward. Kind of like saying, well, I've accepted it, so what can society accept it? And if they can't tell me why and let's find out why.

And then that's what really has brought all the sort of comments I get and all the social media stuff really. Um, I mean it's kind of like doing a PhD in a sense of you getting so much data. My Facebook page. Full of data, of comments from um, different perceptions, different um, cultures. 'cause that comes into it, you know, some people find you shouldn't be showing that, whether there's no breasts or not.

So it all is all there in black and white. And I love that because that needed to all be out in the open. 

Teisha Rose: Yeah, absolutely. Because, and I like too, that you mentioned because. You know, we are both by the sounds of it, accepted that we are flat chested. But not to minimize that it is a, a brutal operation really.

Yeah. You know, when you think of it, you go in, you've [00:10:00] got, you know, your boobs are chopped off, um, and then you come with massive scars. Um, so you know, it is, but it's working on that and feeling those emotions and then getting to a place of acceptance. Yeah. Um, so I love that you. Yeah, you have that message, um, for people because it is a process.

Louise Butcher: It's definitely a process. Uh, when people see me running topless, uh, may, I'm, I'm not sure whether they think, oh, I, I always like that in the beginning. 'cause it, it's not like that. It is, it is tall, it's dark. Um. You know, there were times I just didn't think I could accept my body. It, it would've took about six months before I started to accept.

Um, and that came from being something stronger, becoming something, um, more than I was when I had breasts. But internally, um, finding things that I'd. Done that I could do without breasts, that I couldn't with breasts or the running a [00:11:00] marathon, I'd never run a marathon with breasts. So it was a count. It was about kind of like knowing that I'd lost the breast.

'cause you can't, it's the grieving process and you can't just go, oh, I've lost a pair of breasts. And that's the end of it because you have lost part of yourself. But then finding other parts of yourself that aren't superficial, that aren't connected to something that you were in the past. 

Teisha Rose: Yeah. That's beautiful.

And it is, it's shifting your focus. And I think, um, I, I nearly cried when I, um, saw your reel only a couple of days ago, and it was all the music and it was on wear Your scars with a Smile. They Saved Your Life. And that was so beautiful. And I was like, oh my goodness. It was just beautiful. Yeah. Um, because yeah.

So tell us about 

Louise Butcher: that. So as I, so in a way what I do is. An experiment with my feelings as well. 'cause obviously for me, I've never done this and it, it's going on and on and on. And now in April I will have been running topless for two years. Wow. And that's, that's something, that's a journey and [00:12:00] something that I'm going through that I'm feeling.

And every time I do a run and every time I. Obviously I read all the comments, so I'm seeing where not for personal reasons of being oh, but seeing where it's all going and finding different, it, it's kind of like doing a course, like a degree in a sense and learning different perceptions and learning different how people look at things, but also the way that I am feeling, um, as I'm going through it and getting stronger and learning, um, about my body more and doing more marathons.

So as I go on. It is like as if my brain gets freer, two different concepts and, and um, the creative sense of what I'm doing it is really weird, but it's like I find different feelings in what I'm feeling. Yeah. So when I found that I was like. I couldn't go back to, I can never go back to how I felt when I had my boobs chopped off.

Because you can't. Mm-hmm. You've done the process, you've got through, you've got acceptance. But now I'm moving on from acceptance and finding positives and [00:13:00] finding other things. And I was just like, I looked at all my videos 'cause I'd, I think I'd had a down day, not because of this, never ever it was.

'cause I hadn't ran for two days. I get really downward and I, and I looked through all my videos and I saw this sense of. Joy and, and I was always smiling and it was about running. So it was about the feelings I got when I ran, how my body was strong, how I'd, it was just all these, and I was just like, oh, wow.

And then I was always smiling these scars and I was like. God. Yeah. And then I realized that like, you know, I, those scars are so important because they're showing a picture not only of getting through cancer, but of sort of personality traits that I'd grown since the cancer. So like, um, owning myself, um, the acceptance obviously, but just like the determination and, and the, and the really learning to love yourself no matter what.

Even when there was loads of [00:14:00] judgment from outside coming into me, or You should put a top on, you need to put a top on. Why have you not got a top on? I was still, no, I'm really happy with this. And oh my God, that strength was like, so I was like, wow. And then, and then I just thought, where with a smile?

Where, so it's kind of like saying. Own yourself with a smile. Because also as well, I felt that as I was going on and the comments were coming in because obviously as it's get gets more viral, you get more negativity. 'cause that's the way it is. Yeah. Which is good. Then you get more discussion. Yeah. But obviously the, the comments come in and you kind of like, well, I'm not, it's not affecting me.

Right. These comments aren't affecting me, and these people are the same. Put a top on. It makes me kind of think, oh my God, the feeling that I get when I know I don't feel like I have to because they're saying it. Yeah. Good. Oh God. And that was just like a massive moment of in all walks of life, in all things to do with your body or the way you look is if you can just [00:15:00] get that strength inner and not seek.

The social validation of how you should look, how you should feel about the way you look. Because what I felt was the confidence that I was showing was getting the remarks, not what I was showing. It was like, why are you confident when you've got those scars and you look like that and I'm not confident when I look normal?

How? How is that? And that was kind of like, wow. It was like a moment. So I had to do that post. 

Teisha Rose: Yeah. Beautiful. And I, I love how you explain that, um, because, so you're right, it's not just breast cancer post mastectomy. You know, so many people are worried about the reactions of others. Yeah. And that stops them from embracing their life.

And if you can be free. Of that. Well, that's amazing place to be. 

Louise Butcher: Oh, it is, it is. I wish I could sort of put it in a jar and give it people. 

Teisha Rose: Yeah, well it is, isn't it? Um, [00:16:00] sometimes these experiences, and I mean, I wouldn't have the confidence to, you know, go with my walker topless. I don't have the marathon runner body to do that, but it is that confidence even now.

Uh, I decided I haven't bought a, um, a bra or anything and put, you know, things to pretend I had breasts, um, at all. And I was self-conscious about that. But now it's like, no, you know, I just don't feel like I want to do that. It doesn't feel a part of who I am authentically. Yeah, 

Louise Butcher: that is, um, it, it is a, such a, um, an accelerating feeling when you do get that.

And, and it takes a long time. I mean, it's, I would say that feeling now in the last has come that real sense of strength of I a million people could now say, what you doing is wrong, put a top on. And it would not in the slightest make me think any different. Well, it's took two years running [00:17:00] topless to get to that point.

No, I mean, I don't, I, it's not that I was bothered before, but I just really have totally accepted. And also the positives of being flat and not having. Um, nipples to show or chest or anything like that become more positive as you go on because the negatives are less and less and less. The positives become more.

Um, and I, I saw an advert on our tele. It is about breast cancer screening. And all the ladies, uh, on the advert, uh. They've got tops on, but they're taking off the brows and the feeling they get, you know, at the end of the day when you used to take your brow off and you're like, oh, I'm free. And I just think I don't even need to do that.

And I don't even need to worry about when I take the brow off that I've got my breasts sort of hanging there. And that is just amazing. And then little things like you should, when they say things like you should have a top on, um. For whatever reasons. And, and I think actually, how lucky am I that I don't have to wear a top because that is 

absolute 

really lovely feeling in the, I went through a, a sort [00:18:00] of rain downpour the other day and it was the chest, my chest was getting hit by all this rain and, and it was just like running in the rain and it was just an amazing feeling.

And I remember I got caught, I put a top on, but the top was where, and it felt horrible. So took it back off. It felt great. 

Teisha Rose: No, that's great. And I think too, and I mean obviously if you are in your early twenties or twenties or thirties and have this happen, then that's really awkward as well. Yeah. Like that's different.

But you're right, I've just turned 50 and. The breasts weren't the same as what they were 20 years before. And I think, well, hopefully this means I'm now alive in Yeah. 20 years and will be the envy of anyone in, um, nursing home. 

Louise Butcher: Yeah, it is. It's like, um, and I find that on a lot of the comments is, uh, as I'm getting more and more confident and sort of showing the benefits of it, I get, I get more negativity.

And that's because I think the confidence in [00:19:00] women especially, um. Especially when they're embracing themselves as being different. I mean, it's a massive thing, isn't it? To embrace the fact you've got no breasts. It kind of like provokes people, even like women, men, anybody really, because they're like, how can you feel?

How, how can you accept that? How can you feel so good about it? Don't understand, and it, and it, and you can't? I can't make people understand 'cause you've got to go through the process like, you know, so it's, it's something that unless you've been through it and you have gone through this acceptance and gone through all these things I've gone through, it's, it would be really difficult to understand.

But that, I think that's what makes it more interesting, that you can change and shape the way you think so dramatically. 

Teisha Rose: Yeah, absolutely. And it's starting a conversation because, you know, I don't have the statistics in front of me, but everyone knows someone who's gone through breast cancer. Yeah. And if we can start this conversation, because I was mortified when I.

Went through, you know, [00:20:00] my mastectomies, the nurses saying that some partners are not supportive of women getting mastectomies. I was very fortunate, my partner was incredibly supportive. Yeah. And you think, oh my goodness. So us talking or him talking to his mates about it, what you are doing, if it gets people talking, that's fantastic because you know.

We want women with breast cancer having these scars so their lives are saved. 

Louise Butcher: Yeah. And not worrying about going to breast screening because they're worried that they might have to have a mastectomy. 'cause that's obviously something, the fear of it, isn't it? And I think when I'm running, um, a lot of the reason I sometimes get the negativity is through the fear.

So I don't want to see that. I get a lot of the comments. I don't, we don't need to see this, I don't want to see it. And that's coming from fear because it's like, I don't wanna see it. It's not affecting me. Why should I? And I don't want it to affect me, so don't show it me. And, and it is. I mean, I understand that.

Um, but the fact is [00:21:00] that if I'm showing you, you're thinking about it, which means that, that, that might get you to be a bit proactive. So it's all good. There's nothing negative about what I do now. I, I mean, it never has been, but I know every negative comment has got a positive. Side to it. Yeah. So it's all good.

But I mean, even with the sort of partners which you touched upon, it's really interesting. 'cause tomorrow I'm doing a photo shoot with the photographer. I originally did photo shoot with, who did some lovely shots of me. Um, they're on my Facebook that where I'm sort of like doing lovely pauses and obviously showing my scars.

But they had like a, a sort of, um. Not like a, a sexy element, but they, I would say they gave off that femininity. So I've asked him to do another photo shoot and, and can we find, because I think sort of like a sexual awareness and the sort of femininity comes from the inner confidence of a woman more than the superficial.

And I feel like I've got that now [00:22:00] showing. So I said, can we get that in pictures? Because I think women need to see that. I think women who really struggle with the whole, no one's gonna find me attractive without boobs. I'm not a woman, I'm not a feminine. Really need to see that. It doesn't come from this, it comes from inside.

Um, and I think the for shoot will be brilliant because I wanna see it as well. 'cause I, it's, it's really hard to see yourself in that way, but I want to see that you can do it without breasts because I think a lot of people think you can't. And I think that's tall, rubbish. 

Teisha Rose: Yeah, a hundred percent. Yeah.

And I, I've actually seen those photos on your Facebook and they're beautiful. Yeah, they're so beautiful. And I think, and I'll share them as part of this as well, um, when we go live with the podcast, because yeah, the image is really powerful, but beautiful and I think it's important, um, to show that side as well.

Yeah. 

Louise Butcher: Definitely because I think as well, um, that is where a lot of the comments and the stigma [00:23:00] come from, isn't it? It's the whole. You, you know, you're not feminine anymore. You're not. And I just think that's where women struggle. Um, because I, I struggled like that in the beginning. And then as I've gone on and on and I get a lot of comments of men, um, about how, how attractive I am, and that's really, and I don't seek that validation, but that's not coming from the way I look.

That's coming from the inner strength, the resilience, the determination, the confidence. So yeah, I think that's really important to get him pictures. Um, so I'm really excited about tomorrow 'cause um, yeah, I'm, we are gonna just delve that a little bit further. He's an amazing photographer that really catches that.

'cause you could see what he did. He did it with light. Um, and then this time I'm gonna have material and do sort of like, sort of dancey images and just that whole. Feminine side, which would be really interesting, I think. I'm so excited. Excited. Yeah, it'd 

Teisha Rose: beautiful. You see, you could have thought you'd ever do that.

No. Prior to 2022, 

Louise Butcher: I [00:24:00] would not, and this is the strange thing. I would not have done that with breasts and I wouldn't have had the confidence. I mean what, but this is where I'm trying to, this is what I'm trying to get out there, is you would not have seen me doing a photo shoot, acting all sort of like. I just, I wouldn't have had the confidence to do it.

So it's kind, it just shows that it's not, and, and at the end of the day, we can all say it and it, and it doesn't mean that to people, but they are just glands. In fact, with nipples on the end that feed babies. But because they've been sexualized, there's so much more than that. Um, and I'm not saying everyone should go flat and, and boobs are, I'm just saying if you choose to.

It doesn't mean you're any different or any less feminine. This one with breasts, and that's the message. So yeah, we'll see. We'll see what the photos turn out like. I'll be like, woo. So I just, I'm just so excited because everything I do now is just this experiment, which I love. 

Teisha Rose: Yeah, that's great. It's great.

It's taking all different things. [00:25:00] Yeah, and I also wanted to, because I've been following news since we chatted last year, I saw on your Facebook and Instagram that you are now a Guinness World record holder. Is that right? 

Louise Butcher: Yeah, so that's, um, I, I applied for that.

Going into the London Marathon, it was, you have to do it 12 weeks before, um, if you want to make a new record. And obviously because I was the first woman ever to run topless, um, they had to make that record, but they didn't wanna do that. Not because it was topless, but because a record has to be beaten.

So they, the, so the record I've got is the fastest female with a double mastectomy. And that's not necessarily because I am the fastest female, but it's the only one that's ever been. Um, made because it, I created the record. And what was brilliant about that is a lady, I got the record in April and a lady in Australia actually beat the record in July in a [00:26:00] marathon over there.

'cause I checked, um, and she holds a record now for the fastest lady with a double mastectomy. But because I'd created it, which was just 'cause I'd created it to be broken. Yeah, and she'd broken it and she literally, that would never, no one would've had the record because I created the record. That was unbelievable.

So this year, obviously now I'm like, right. Um, can we do the topless female, the fastest topless female with a double mastectomy? 'cause obviously the topless has to come into it somewhere. So I've applied for that one. So we are gonna hopefully get that one this year. Um, so yeah, it's just creating these new ones.

So I thought, yeah, my god, that was amazing. I've got the certificate up there. Um, yeah, so I held the fastest for two months. I created the record, which is even, which is why I did it. 

Teisha Rose: That's amazing. And I mean, that's why I reached out to you because it came to Australia. I, I was, you know, saw you on our Today Show and I thought, wow, this is [00:27:00] incredible.

I'll reach out and see whether you'll be, you were one of the first guests on Wellbeing Interrupted, and you are right. It, it's just created so much attention, which is incredible. Yeah. So since then, have you been doing other runs? 

 I think you did a swim or triathlon, is that right? 

Louise Butcher: Yeah. So what I did is I, I worked with a, a charity, the role Devon Hospitals charity here and. Before I did the marathon, we'd come up with an idea that we were gonna get, like, say, 10 ladies to go into the sea. Um, I'd be topless and they, it depends, I mean, it was more about sort of breast cancer and showing scars and things like that.

And then it sort of grew and grew and grew and grew and loads of ladies wanted to just run into the seat. And then the logistics became very, very, um, a little bit too much for me. So the actual. Charity took on the event and got like a sponsor, and it became this event [00:28:00] last November where they hired a lovely place in LK, where we live, called the Tunnels, which Private beach?

So the private beach. So it was just all ladies, it was ticketed and they sold 250 tickets. All ladies, well, a lady photographer. Um, it was just the most unbelievable, um, day. They raised for the hospital 50,000 pounds. Wow. 50,000 pounds for the breast cancer, um, unit at our hospital and the fern center who I raised for, which is like the wellbeing side of cancer.

Mm-hmm. But I can't explain the feeling that that day was. So we went there, um, and it was like a warmup and then we all held hands and put our arms in the air. This is topless. And they, everyone had breasts. Apart from a few who'd come down from up the country who'd had mastectomies, never shown them in their life.

And we all just held hands and walked into the sea. And I've never [00:29:00] felt anything so electric. It was like goosebumps. Um, there was music, um, oh my God, I've, it was like. All these ladies were there for all different sorts of reasons. It wasn't necessarily about cancer, breast cancer, um, it was all about empowering each other.

It was about, um, having confidence, uh, and we all just walked into the sea. It was like we were all five or six and just all this judgment and social norm had all been, took off our shoulders and we just, and it was like we were kids again. And I've never felt anything like it. And it's, it got so big now that I'm meeting them next week.

'cause it's happening again. It's become a yearly event that's got bigger. It's got bigger and we are getting more and more sponsors involved because it just took off. 'cause they took a risk. Because it, it, it was, you know, it's a risk and they did it amazing 'cause they got a private beach so that the ladies felt comfortable.

You couldn't have done it on a, on a local beach 'cause it [00:30:00] wouldn't, people wouldn't have felt comfortable. I mean, people of all shapes and sizes were just in the bikini bottoms running into the sea. So they, you've got to feel really comfortable in that position. But, oh wow, that was just the best and I can't wait for this year.

That's amazing. 

Teisha Rose: Yeah. 

Louise Butcher: That's amazing. 

Teisha Rose: And then you are like, I see you on Instagram, I follow you on Instagram, on Facebook, and you, you run a lot. So are you doing other runs and as well as all the training? 

Louise Butcher: Yeah, so I run a bit too much I think. And I've actually now with, so this year I'm, I'm on a topless tour.

I've called it a topless tour of the uk So I'm doing four sort of ma major iconic marathons of the uk. So. Two weeks on Sunday, I'm doing the bath half marathon, which is 15,000 people doing that topless. Then the London in April, and then I'm having the summer where I'm not running a marathon. And then, um, in October, I, I think it's the Cardiff half, which is [00:31:00] 60,000 or something.

And then the Great North Run, um, is, is a half, and that's the biggest half in the uk. So they, they're quite iconic and I've realized that. The training side of has to incorporate strength training now because I of my age, the fact I'm still on cancer treatment with my Letrozole. I have to keep my bone strong.

And I think I was told yesterday by the trainer that, you know, if you want to carry on running, you've really gotta start looking at that side. Not, it's not just about the running. And I think because I love running so much and I need it for my mental health, I do do it a little bit too much. So actually my training now is starting to show me that rest days are just as important as the run days.

I. So it's, it's actually quite ironic that I'm actually, yeah. Really training now. So I'm having a few rest days. 'cause for me that is hard, 

Teisha Rose: which is amazing for everyone else. Like I just can't, yeah, I can't just [00:32:00] imagine. I. Doing what you're doing. Like it's just incredible. And, but your kids join in as well, like I remember I've seen like them riding alongside you and taking pictures and stuff.

Yeah, 

Louise Butcher: they love it. And I like to get, I don't like them in all the reels, but I like them in the odd one just to show the mother side of me because sometimes my reels go viral. And the fact is that they just go out there, people go, what's, what's this? What? They don't know what, what's going on? So they make assumptions.

So it's sometimes nice to have. The children in to see the mother's side of me that, you know, I'm, I'm a woman, I'm married, I've got, um, two kids, you know, I haven't got breast. 'cause um, you, you just don't know what people's perceptions are of, uh, a lady without breast. So it's kind of like, well, it gives that little, that element of relatability.

But also I think it's really important for the kids to be involved as well, to see that, um, you know, it's fun. It's, it's, it's sending out empowering messages and they, and they love doing [00:33:00] it. I mean, Pollyanna, she's the one that I get going, pretending that she's my trainer and she's like, come on mom, come on mom.

She amazing for a sort of 8-year-old girl to see that, to see me run. And I run in all sorts of places. I mean, we were at the park when I did one of my s. Um, and I just run like it's normal and to me it is. And to her it is, but to other people it may be not. Yeah. But I love the fact that to her it is and, and, and, and she's got that mindset.

Yeah. 

Teisha Rose: Yeah, that's perfect. And then that starts conversations from a younger generation. Yeah, definitely. And just normalizing it as well, which is beautiful. Yeah. And you're right for them to be part of it all as well. Yeah. Which is good because I imagine you are out and about a lot training. Yeah. So it's good that that can join in.

Louise Butcher: Yeah. And I think as well, like they like Pollyanna especially, 'cause she talks more openly than my teenage boy who's 14, tells me a lot that I'm discussed in her class. So, um, they, they were [00:34:00] talking, this is amazing because they were, they're in a year three class, so they're all eight year olds. Um, and the teacher had asked, oh, who likes running?

Or, Pollyanna loves running and does anybody's parents run? And she put her hand up and said, oh, my mom's famous. She's a topless runner. And then the teacher went, oh yes, we know, we know, we know her. And then this, and then the other kids were going, yeah, she's on TikTok. And then this one boy went. She's not famous.

And then all of them went, yes, she's, and they're, and they're having this. And I just thought, oh my God, how amazing is this that this whole discussion about breast cancer, no, breast is in a year two class. Not in a weird way, in a fun, in fun way. Oh my God. I just thought happen. And that, and that's, and it's times like that I think.

Wow. Yeah. That's brilliant. 

Teisha Rose: No, it makes, it makes it worth it, as you said, you know, just to normalize it for younger people is, is perfect way to do so. [00:35:00] Your, we mentioned earlier, before we started recording London Marathon is coming up in April. Yeah. So, yeah. So do you feel like, how do you feel leading to that?

Is that something that excites you or do you think Oh my goodness, that's a long way to run. Yeah. 

Louise Butcher: I, um, I'm both, I'm exci. I'm so excited 'cause I remember how amazing it was last time. Um, I'm apprehensive 'cause I remember how hard it was at the end because I've got, I've, the last two marathons I've done, um, 'cause I, after actually the London, I did.

I was supposed to do the Bath full marathon, but I ended up doing the half in that and I loved doing the half 'cause I loved the, I wasn't getting sick at the end. I figured out the sickness at the end. 'cause I got very sick at the end of the London Marathon. Um, I. That I was in a and e for three hours because I, I couldn't keep water down.

And it's something that on the last two marathons has affected me quite bad. And I think it's about what I'm doing with my eating [00:36:00] and what I'm eating and as I'm running. And so I figured out that what I'm doing wrong and that's all part of the journey, so I'm hoping it's not gonna affect me. But yeah, that is.

It's hard running when you're sick 'cause you're being sick. Oh yeah. And it's hard and I think what was hard about it in the London Marathon is everyone's watching. So we, whereas on the last virtual marathon, I was sick in the bush, um, for about 10 miles. I just kept constantly being sick and it's not a nice feeling because you are retching and it's not nice to look at.

But the London Marathon. There's just people right? All the way down. So you'd nowhere to hide. I had to run off and go into, I couldn't get to the portal loo in time, so I had to go into some library right at the side of the road. And I was in the, what was lovely about that is I'd gone into this toilet, um, and you could hear me and this lady outside was like, are you okay?

And they were really worried because it was. I was probably 10 minutes in that toilet. Really, really ill. And he had [00:37:00] another four miles to run after that. Um, and she contacted me. Um. About a week later asking me if it was all right, 'cause she'd seen me on Facebook and got in touch. I was a lady outside the toilet.

Um, but it is things like that in a way that make it all worth it. And it, and, and it's really weird, but the tor, the torturous bit of it is what makes you go back. 'cause you, because you get through it and it's a bit like the cancer journey and it's like, people go, why would you wanna do it again if it was that?

At the end, and you were in a e and you were being sick for three hours. I mean, I was on the, I, I was sick at the side 800 yards before the end. The medics came up and I was like. I am finishing this marathon. Um, and they were like, yeah, 'cause there was only 800 yards and I still ran going like this at the end because 

Teisha Rose: yeah, that's all I saw.

Louise Butcher: The thing is, is you, you've, you feel horrendous there, but then you've run and you've done this amazing thing and all these endorphins were surround and you forget this horrendous, and that's what's amazing about Marathon. And then you get to the end and then you feel [00:38:00] really sick again and it's just this wave and then you get through it.

Um. And Yeah, and I think it just reminded me about the cancer and, and, and the fact that the marathon was my choice. The cancer wasn't. And that's what I like about marathons. It's the torture that you've chosen. I. 

Teisha Rose: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And you're right, the images of you were amazing as you were coming to the finish line.

So you never have known No, no way. You've 

Louise Butcher: known, because that's how I, I was like that there, but down there it's like, it's, oh my god, this, and that's how a marathon is. One minute you're just, it's just 26 miles of just. Pure emotion. Uh, and it was electric. I mean the whole, there was not one place, there wasn't crowds and crowds of people cheering, screaming, um, and breast cancer.

Now, who I was running for, obviously it was the first time I'd ever done it topless, and no one really knew what to expect. Um, but all the support people screaming. Um, and obviously I'd been [00:39:00] on the news that weekend so people knew I was doing it. Breast cancer. Now, obviously, maybe we're a little bit. I wondering what the reaction would be like, but there was quite a few of them in the crowd at certain aspects of the race and they said they couldn't believe the support and I think that's why they wanted me to run again.

'cause they actually rang me up and said, can you do it again? Because I think obviously for them that was a massive thing as well. Someone running, showing their scars. But when they realized it was all, most of it was positive, it was. It was something that had to be explored. Really. You can't go back from that, can you?

Teisha Rose: No, not at all. And so you mentioned, yeah. Um, breast cancer now. So in Australia we've got Breast Cancer Network, Australia. And from me with a couple of people I've met through the podcast from the uk I know that breast cancer now is a really huge, um, not-for-profit, um, for people living with breast cancer and advocacy, um, group as well.

Yeah. [00:40:00] That's who you are running with and raising funds with, is that right? Yes. 

Louise Butcher: Yeah, so the four, the, the, the full marathon and the three halves are for breast cancer now. So yeah, I, it, it's kind of who I run for when I'm doing big marathons or the, the bigger ones. I work for the Royal Devon Hospitals Charity down here.

It as an ambassador, not well volunteer, but for the big marathons and the big runs. Um, breast cancer now, um, because they do so much, uh, work and I mean, last year we raised three and half thousand pounds on that run. Which was brilliant. It was just, um, so yeah, it was really good and I was a bit worried about this year, was like, I'm gonna raise that again.

But what I've done is I've not put too much pressure on myself, um, because I'm doing four. I've made the, the, I've, I've not got such a high target. I've split it over four because otherwise it becomes too stressful about the raising the money and it is about raising the money, but it's also [00:41:00] about the messages and the advocacy and all the other things that I'm doing it for.

Teisha Rose: Yeah, a hundred percent. Because you can't measure that impact that you're having because that impact's enormous and that impact will, you know, have help. Ladies living with breast cancer, but also the greater community and being more inclusive and accepting of that. So, yeah, I just, I'm so pleased that you've come back onto Wellbeing Interrupted because I, I love following you on your Instagram, and I'm not on TikTok, but I know you're on TikTok as well, and we'll share all of those handles.

Oh, thank you. Because you do you just. It just becomes contagious, you know? Yeah. Your smile. And I think I read a comment on that reel saying, , do your cheeks hurt because you smile so much. And it just made me laugh because it's like, you are, you're just like this. Yeah. , you radiate, um, that [00:42:00] energy, which, which is beautiful.

Louise Butcher: Oh, thank you. . 

Teisha Rose: I really hope you enjoyed our chat. Louise does. She just brings, she's just got this beautiful energy. I'm loving how I'm attracting people on the podcast who do radiate this beautiful energy. And are really embracing their lives, regardless of the challenges they've experienced. I am in awe of what Louise is doing because I sit here with a flat chest.

I know how emotional that can be and how difficult that was to reach that stage of acceptance. As I mentioned, I definitely do accept what my body is like now, but that brings it to a whole new level accepting and then being willing to show the world your flat chest. So I'm definitely not at that stage.

, but I love this broader [00:43:00] conversation about body image, self-acceptance, self-confidence,

as this applies to all of us. The interview was actually meant to finish where we've finished up there, but Louise and I loved to chat, and when Louise started talking about how important her mindset has been in her decision to run topless and to embrace her body, then we kept talking because as you know.

 I'm all about how important it is to work on our mindsets, because doing that will definitely help you navigate really difficult life experiences.  

So that conversation is an episode in itself, and that's what I'll be chatting about next week. But for now, please look on the show notes. There's a link to breast cancer now who Louise will be running topless for an [00:44:00] amazing charity in the uk. Supporting those with breast cancer, but as I've done as well, just Google topless runner.

Louise will come onto your screen. She's on TikTok, she's on Facebook, she's also on Instagram. 

Other than that, episode 20 was the first episode Louise and I spoke to each other on, so if you haven't listened to that, do have a listen. In that episode, you'll hear. Louisa's words as to how she was diagnosed with breast cancer, how it wasn't picked up originally, and then the aftermath of that. But before I go, a quick favor, if you could share Wellbeing, Interrupted with friends, family members, anyone who you think will benefit from the conversations I'm having, that would be amazing. Because as I'm learning, you know, getting guests [00:45:00] on the podcast, if you have more downloads, if more people are listening, that will help attract more guests that we can all benefit from.

I hope you really enjoy your week and I look forward to you joining me on episode 61 next week where we'll dive a bit deeper with Louise. All about mindset chat soon. [00:46:00]