Banbury father and daughter to run London Marathon together in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support charity

Martin Jones, a local businessman with DCS Group Ltd Banbury, is running the London Marathon with his daughter, Caroline, on Sunday October 3.

Martin will be running the London Marathon for the ninth and last time, which will also be his 19th marathon. His daughter will be fulfilling a dream to run the London Marathon after 14 failed applications.

Martin said: "At age 62, I got in via the ballot, and Caroline received a charity place from Macmillan, so her dream finally came true."

Martin's love for running started in the 1980s when he and his wife, Hilary, joined a local running club. Martin ran his first London Marathon in 1989.

In 2003 Martin and his wife ran the London Marathon together - raising money for the charity Cancer Research UK. He ran it again in 2013 with his son, Max, with a charity place for Macmillan Cancer Support. Together, they raised more than £2,000 in that race for Macmillan Cancer Support.

The father and daughter running pair chose Macmillan Cancer Support charity as it's a charity close to their hearts.

His wife, Hilary, has had two surgeries and radiotherapy since 2010 after being diagnosed and treated for melanoma cancer.

Martin said: "Hilary was a super responder on a trial chemotherapy drug, and her consultant, Professor Brown of University Hospital, Coventry put her on it straight away. Nearly eight years on she is still on them living with being stage four.

Martin said: "Macmillan have helped us all the way since her original diagnosis. The early years were very hard with a business to run and two children of university age, but Hilary received help via PIP payments, blue badge etc. via Macmillan."

This year Martin and Caroline set a fundraising webpage to help raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

He added: "We pledged to raise as much as possible with a combined effort for Macmillan, and we are well set for our target of £3,000 +."

They are close to reaching their target having raised £2,210 through a Virgin Money Giving web page.

Caroline's husband, David, and his brother, Andrew started the family's fundraising campaign earlier this year by taking on the 'The Six Pack of Peaks' where they hiked the six highest peaks in the Peak District.

To contribute to the family's 'Miles for Macmillan' fundraising campaign you can use the following web link: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-display/showROFundraiserPage?userUrl=MilesforMacmillan&isTeam=true