Marina' s story....On my bucket list is my wish to run a marathon.... so this year I am going to try and do it. I am entered into the Milton Keynes marathon which is on Monday 5th May 2014 and I hope to complete the 26.2 miles before they close the course. I am not a fast runner but I do plod and with the training that I have put in and the long runs that I have already undertaken and still to undertake and with sheer determination and stubborness I hope to achieve it. I knew being stubborn would come in handy one day.!!!

Amanda's story...  I have always enjoyed running to keep fit and like Marina I have always wanted to run a marathon. So after enjoying many runs with a group of Mums from school I have been persuaded that now is the time to give the big one a go! So on May 5th I will be attempting the Milton Keynes Marathon. I am hoping the 3-4 runs I have completed every week since the beginning of the year and the long, long runs Marina and I have chatted our way through will help me achieve this ambition.

We decide to undertake this challenge with a charity in mind. The charity that we have chosen is the Children's Brain Tumour Research Centre which is in Nottingham. Our  reason for choosing this charity is that within our village there is a little girl who was diagnosed at a young age with an 'extensive' inoperable Ganglioglioma brain tumour in the brain stem, spinal cord and cerebellum.   

The tumour causes all sorts of problems such as a paralysed vocal cord, very low hearing in her left ear, swallow problems, balance problems and probably the worst side effect is problems with her breathing. This has lead to this brave little girl having to sleep every night on a ventilator. She has had to have chemotherapy and continues to have MRI scans regulary, her last showing that the tumour has remained stable. There is very little that can be done with an inoperable brain stem tumour.

This is the reason why we would like to raise as much money as we can for the Childrens Brain Tumour Research Centre in Nottingham to hopefully try and find a cure. Did you know that Brain Tumours are the biggest cancer killer in the UK of children and has in fact overtaken Leukaemia? Brain Tumour research only receives 0.7% of national cancer research funding.  Please help us by donating as much or as little as you can…every penny helps. Even if you can’t afford to donate please could we ask you to help raise awareness of brain tumours and the lack of research by telling all your friends and family. Thank you so much for all your help and support.