Keep on running

Sixth-former Tom Freeman is running to raise money to help his 11-year-old half brother, who suffers from a severe form of arthritis.

Tom, 18, from Cope Close, in Botley, Oxford, is hoping to raise £1,500 for the Arthritis Research Campaign after his brother Isaac was diagnosed with chronic polyarticular arthritis in 2006.

The affliction left Isaac, a pupil at Cherwell School and a keen footballer, unable to get out of bed unaided.

Oxford University professor Richard Pring is to celebrate his 70th birthday running the marathon.

Prof Pring will be attempting his 23rd marathon to raise money for the Oxford-based Family Links charity.

Prof Pring, a former director of the university's department of educational studies, is currently overseeing a major study into the education of 14-to-19 year olds for the Nuffield Foundation.

But he still finds time for regular 6am training runs up Headington Hill.

Charlie Roger, 42, knows every step she takes will be for the children she works with.

The mother-of-two is a paediatric nurse who helps look after children with cancer in Oxfordshire. She is running for the charity Clic Sargent.

Cheering on Charlie, of Church Street, Ducklington, will be her husband David and two daughters, Imogen, 13, and Rosie, 10.

Father-of-seven Mike Rowe of Greenacres Drive, Wantage, is running to raise £2,000 for the Royal National Institute for the Blind.

And the 46-year-old Wantage businessman thinks he could be the youngest grandfather to conquer the course.

He said: "I made one attempt at the marathon in my early 20s, but I didn't succeed, which may have been something to do with coming straight out of a nightclub to do the run, so I threw in the towel."

Mr Rowe said he wanted to give something back to the charity that has helped his five-year-old daughter Paige, who was born blind.

Civil servant Scott Johnston, 27, a Ladygrove Park Primary School governor, is not only running the marathon - he's also running a sweepstake in which his supporters can guess his finishing time.

Scott Hooper, a PE teacher at King Alfred Sports and Community College in Wantage, is hoping to race across the finish line in record time.

He will run for Action for Blind people, a charity close to his heart, and is hoping to raise £1,400.

Mr Hooper said: "I used to work for the organisation as a sports coach and co-ordinator.

"I have a passion for working with young people and believe blind and visually-impaired children should be given the chance to get involved with sport and improve their health and self-confidence."

Team Evolve, made up of Lyn Owen, Leanne Millar, Debbie Curtis and John Stocker, all from Bicester, are running to raise money for Children With Leukaemia.

The team chose this charity having been inspired by Bicester youngster Matthew Holder-Wooloff, who is battling the disease.

Ms Owen, 49, of Falcon Mead, Langford Village, met Matthew when he took his two-year-old black Labrador to her dog training club.

There, Ms Owen was told Matthew, 14, of Shearwater Drive in Langford village, suffered from leukaemia.

Earlier this year, Banbury vet Michael Punter, of Mollington, finished the gruelling Devizes to Westminster Challenge.

On Sunday, Mr Punter, a member of the Banbury and District Canoe Club, is running the marathon to raise money for the Children's Society.

He said: "I get most of my exercise sitting on my backside, canoeing and kayaking.

"The London Marathon is something I have watched on television and I have always wondered what it would like to take part."

Faith Cook wants to keep fit while she is at university, so she set herself the target of completing this year's London Marathon.

The 22-year-old, who is studying real estate management at Oxford Brookes University, is one of more than 1,000 people running for Children with Leukaemia.

Faith, who lives at Brighthampton, near Standlake, in west Oxfordshire, said: "The furthest I've run so far is eight miles - but I've been training."

Guy Lawson is the pharmacy manager at the Sainsbury's supermarket in Banbury.

This will be his third London Marathon and he is be raising funds for Diabetes UK.

He got involved because his son was diagnosed with the illness five years ago.

He said "Raising money for Diabetes UK means a lot to me."

Dave Barber is running the marathon to raise cash for a bursary set up in memory of Dave Thorne who worked at the Woodlands Education Centre in Wales, a facility used by schoolchildren from across the county.

And despite suffering from high cholesterol, David Sawyer, 52, from Chalgrove, is attempting the race to raise money for Heart UK, a charity looking into the problems of the inherited disease.

Send us your pictures

If you are running on Sunday, then we want to tell the world how well you have done.

Just send in pictures and video clips as soon as you can and we will post them on oxfordmail.co.uk There are several ways you can do this: 1. Mobile phone (quickest and easiest): * Start your message with Oxford Mail, telling us who you are and where you are from, and providing a brief description of your picture or video clip. Then attach your picture or video clip and send it to 80360.

* You will receive a confirmation message that we have received your contribution. Each picture or video message is free to send but will cost your normal operator charge. Services provided by Newsquest Media Group.

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3. Upload your pictures and video directly from your PC * Log on to oxfordmail.net/pictures/sendusyourpics/ and you can upload directly using our simple form.

Good luck - we look forward to sharing your success with our readers.