RUNNERS from across the area will be getting up early and donning their trainers tomorrow when they clock up the miles in the Sheffield Half Marathon and London Marathon.
Among the 5,500 runners taking part in the Sheffield event is a team of more than 30 sixth-formers, parents and teachers from St Mary's High School in Chesterfield aiming to raise £10,000 for Weston Park Hospital.
Headteacher Sean McClafferty said
: "I ran last year just after I became headteacher at the school and said I wouldn't run it again without other teachers and students.
"I am thrilled by the amount of dedication shown by the runners – it is a brilliant opportunity for us to raise money for a great cause."
Ros Arksey, aged 31, is running in Sheffield for Macmillan Cancer Support after losing several members of her family to terminal illness.
Ros' father-in-law lost his partner Eileen to cancer in February, her husband Ade's mum died in 1990 and she also lost an auntie and uncle in the last 10 years to cancer.
Learndirect customer and information officer Ros, from Endcliffe Park, who is aiming to raise £500, said: "After a few years of doing the Race for Life I began to feel that three miles was manageable and wanted to challenge myself a bit more."
Carole Bailey, from Frecheville, whose dad died of cancer, and friend Tracey Shaw will be running the Sheffield half marathon to help raise money for Teenage Cancer Trust and its specialist cancer unit at Weston Park hospital.
Carole pledged to do the half marathon every year, if she was able. "It's my way of thanking Weston Park for the superior care given to my dad and all our family at a very difficult time," she said.
Staff from accountancy firm Grant Thornton and lawyers from DLA.
