An Ellesmere Port runner who vowed never to start a marathon again was inspired to tackle the London event in gratitude for the care received by her late mother from Macmillan.

Amanda Tooke said: “For the last 20 years I’ve sat on the couch and watched the London Marathon and I always said ‘I’d love to do that’. But having run a marathon in 2015 I vowed vehemently that I would never run 26.2 miles again.”

But seeing the difference Macmillan Cancer Support made to her mum Evelyn Catt during terminal cancer changed Amanda’s mind and led her to the start line on Sunday.

“Macmillan promise that you are not alone with cancer and they were there all the way from the first call to the help desk to our wonderful Macmillan nurse Claire,” said Amanda.

She found out she had a London Marathon place just a couple of days before her ‘amazing’ mum sadly passed away last October.

“Mum said ‘I know you can do it’ and that’s what kept me going. There were a few tears, it was a waterproof mascara day but it was worth every blister,” she added.

Amanda, who finished in a time of 4hrs 59min, has already raised more than £3,500 for Macmillan and would love to reach her target of £4,000.

Active Leisure Events, organisers of the MBNA Chester Marathon, say Amanda is not the only one who’s been inspired by the thousands who turned out to cheer everyone on with a huge surge in entries following the race.

“It was fantastic to see all those runners on the streets of London on Sunday, each one pursuing their own unique adventure as a marathon runner,” says Chris Hulse, joint organiser of the MBNA event who has run the London Marathon 13 times.

“As someone who was inspired to start running 15 years ago, I know how important it is to be encouraged and supported as you take up the challenge of a marathon.

“Many aspire to run a marathon and the multi-award winning MBNA Chester Marathon in October is the ideal choice for first time marathon runners.

“We host two free marathon seminars to provide information and advice which, combined with our monthly training runs, assist runners in their journey to becoming marathon finishers.”

Readers can support Amanda’s fundraising at https:// www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Amanda-Tooke5 .