We'll be there for you; will you be there for us?

At this time of the year keen runners all over the country are learning if they have been accepted for the Flora London Marathon.

For those who are accepted the countdown to the big day is now underway.

Although over £32million was raised for a wide variety of charities in 2002 there are still many runners who enter never having thought about using their strenuous efforts to benefit a charity. If you or someone you know has got a place why not let it benefit your local charity, ISABEL HOSPICE

That's what Michael Robinson, pictured with his mother, who works at John Lewis did in 2002. He had a place and ran the Marathon in memory of his father, Lawrence, and raised £1845 for ISABEL HOSPICE.

"I saw first hand what Isabel Hospice did for my Dad," said Michael, "this was my way of not only achieving an ambition I had had for a number of years, but also my way of saying thank you to Isabel Hospice for everything they did for him."

Isabel Hospice's Director of Fundraising, Philomena Roche said, "I have enormous admiration for anyone who undertakes a marathon. The time and energy that has to be dedicated to achieving such a feat is enormous and it's so good when we see runners being given that extra incentive to complete their marathon by having money for Isabel Hospice riding on their success."

For those who are unfortunate enough to be turned down for a marathon place, Isabel Hospice has a limited number of Golden Bond places. Runners need to able to raise £2,000 in sponsorship to be considered for one of these.

An alternative this year is the newly instituted Flora London Half Marathon that will take place at Silverstone racing circuit in March. Places will be allocated on a first come first served basis and the deadline for applying is 31st January.

If you would like to run for Isabel Hospice or would like further details, please email pam.shepherd@isabelhospice.org.uk or
call 01707 376782.

To find out more about Isabel Hospice why not try visiting their website on www.isabelhospice.org.uk

For further information call Philomena or Pam on Tel: - 01707 376782.