Sabden women ready for London Marathon

Mum-of-two Lisa Parker, of Pendle Street West, is preparing to tackle her first ever London Marathon.

For Kitty Garnett this will be her silver jubilee year, the 25th time she has taken part in the great event.

And the duo are hoping to raise hundreds of pounds for charities with their marathon efforts on Sunday, April 22nd.

A keen runner to start with, Lisa, who is married to Phil and has two children, Owen (9) and seven-year-old Ruby, said: “I have been out running quite a lot and have managed to run for 18 miles without stopping so far.

“I decided in October last year I would like to take part in the London Marathon, so I looked on the website at all the charities that were offering places.’’

Lisa, a teaching assistant at Whalley Primary School, settled on Childhood First, a charity that treats and educates children with the most severe emotional and behavioural difficulties caused by neglect and abuse.

So far she has raised around £800 in sponsorship and through a couple of fundraising events, including a retro night and a car boot sale.

Kitty, who is 74, is a veteran with the Clayton Harriers and she will be fundraising for the Alzheimer’s Society.

A retired NHS worker Kitty is among the oldest of the 35,000 entrants taking part, but she regularly beats competitors half her age.

She ran her first marathon at the age of 50 and usually runs 20 to 30 miles and builds up to 50 a week in the run-up to the event.

Kitty, of Crowtrees Road, said: “I look forward to taking part every year and so far this year I have raised around £310 in sponsorship.’’

l Anyone who would like to sponsor Lisa can log onto www.virginmoneygiving. com/LisaParker2 or call into Shippy’s Store in Padiham Road or the newsagents in Whalley Road where there are sponsorship forms. If you would like to sponsor Kitty she can be contacted on 01282 776042.