After losing both parents to lung cancer, sisters Jinty and Heather are long-standing supporters of Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation. In 2015 the sisters took on the London Marathon in memory of their Dad, with their mum cheering from the sidelines. This year, they’re taking on the marathon again, this time in her memory.
“Training has mostly gone to plan, we completed our final long training run of 20 miles last weekend and are now enjoying the taper, it’s great knowing we’re ‘only’ running 9 miles this weekend. However, the reason they call it training is so you can learn from any mishaps ahead of the event. This time around training has taught us, don’t pull your flask out by the lid, it will come off and you will get soaked! Put your flask away securely otherwise you will lose it, and always lift your feet over the pavements!
“Our bodies feel 9 years older than the last time, so we’ve spent more time on strength training and flexibility for injury prevention for this year’s marathon. The 1st time we ran ‘The London Marathon’ in 2015 we didn’t fuel correctly, we ran solely on water and a small amount of Lucozade.
“The best part of training for ‘The Wall’, the 70-mile Ultra Marathon that we ran in 2021, was understanding how to fuel our bodies to be able to sustain hours of running which has massively helped our training.”
Training through grief
“Losing both Mum and Dad to Lung Cancer has been devastating. Raising funds and awareness for Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation allows us to positively impact other families while allowing us the opportunity to create amazing memories in honour of our parents.
“Many of our family and friends have told us that we inspire them, but we couldn’t do what we do without their unwavering support. It’s this support that drives our sense of purpose, knowing we’re making a difference no matter how small.”
As the big day approaches…
“We’re so excited to have been allocated to the same start line. The last time we were separated across the Blue and Red starts so we had to coordinate a meeting at the mile 4 water station. It’s the greatest feeling spotting each other in the sea of runners but the wait is an anxious one.
“We’re looking forward to seeing other Roy’s Runners along the way, the 2024 team have been amazing at supporting each other throughout our individual journeys to the start line, and we can’t wait to hear everyone’s success stories. Most of all we’re looking forward to seeing our cheer squad.”
“The supporters in London are phenomenal, complete strangers are cheering your name, willing you to succeed. The feeling of seeing your own supporters in the crowds is indescribable.”
“Any event that my sister & I have undertaken has always been completed side by side. The best part of running together is when one of us gets in their head the other is the voice of reason.
“We have so much respect for runners who undertake these challenges solo, it takes mental grit. We’ve completed all our long training runs together, and we’re lucky that our pace is fairly evenly matched. We’ve completed mid-week runs solo only to then discover that, on quite a few occasions, our pace has been exact, to the second!
“We completed London previously in 4hrs 46 minutes, we’d love to come close to that again. We both say we’re not chasing a time but if we see the finish line at 4 hrs 45 minutes we will probably try to sprint lol!”
“We fundraise for RCLCF because we want to make a difference for other families, to change outcomes so their story ends differently to ours. We’d like the money raised to be used to fund campaigns to raise awareness, to fund research or provide support for patients and their families, wherever it’s needed most.”
You can support Jinty and Heather’s tribute fund here: https://jessie-eddie-mcintosh.muchloved.com/Fundraising/Events/676647951