7 friends…100 marathons… 365 days.

What started as a bit of foolish banter on a Sunday morning run has evolved into an obsession for six members of Yaxley Runners (Gary Masters, John Ackroyd, Ian Vallance, Gavin Farrow, Kevin Peel and Matt Lauch) and one Werrington Jogger (Martin Stevens).

The idea, originally conceived by Gary, was for him and John to do 14 in ’14 (complete 14 marathons in 2014 - that’s over 366 miles, by the way).

As part of the challenge, he thought it would be particularly fun if they ran 3 marathons in just 3 days. But once word got round, and testosterone and bravado took hold, there were soon 7 of us.

Originally, we were just going to see how we got on over the course of the year, just to see if it could be done.

However, last year we were all deeply saddened to hear that a friend from the running club had received some devastating news. Her husband had been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer.

We thought that the very least we could do was turn our crazy idea into something much more worthwhile.

As the idea gathered momentum, we soon realised that if each of us ran 14 marathons, that would equal 98. So we decided to round it up, and attempt to run 100 between us!

So there you have it: 7 friends, 100 marathons, 365 days. We’re already off the mark*, and all we need now is for you good people to make a generous donation.

We think we’re doing the easy bit, by the way! Pancreatic Cancer is the least understood and because of this, it has the lowest survival rate. The more research that takes place, the earlier it can be detected, the more people will beat it. Quite simply, the more research, the more survivors. This fantastic charity would benefit greatly from your donations, big or small.

We have set a target of £10,000 between us for the year. Please note that every penny raised will go directly to the charity, as we are funding all race entries, travel, etc. ourselves.

On behalf of the team, our sincere thanks.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.