A paediatric neurosurgeon and a Tesco worker are among the people from Nottinghamshire who will be taking part in the London Marathon to raise money for causes close to their hearts. The 42nd running of the annual event will be taking place on Sunday (October 2), with the first races expected to kick off at around 9am.
Among those taking part will be Gemma Downie, who works at the Tesco Carlton Superstore and who has athletics running through the family, given that her sisters are Team GB Olympians Becky and Ellie Downie.
Gemma will be raising money in memory of her brother Josh, who passed away at the age of just 24 last October due to arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy. Gemma now wants to raise at least £2,500 in his memory for the British Heart Foundation.
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She said: "I will be running the London Marathon for the British Heart Foundation as last year I lost my brother, Josh, to an undiagnosed heart condition. I want to increase awareness on the importance of heart conditions and raise money which will go towards research and help prevent others from losing their lives to heart conditions."
Donald Macarthur, a paediatric neurosurgeon at Nottingham Children's Hospital, will also be taking part in the marathon along with his daughter Catherine. They will be doing so to raise money for Children With Cancer UK. The pair have already raised over £2,700 for the charity through their fundraising and training ahead of the marathon.
Richard Litchfield, the leader of Nottingham-based tech firm Forward Solutions, will be gearing up for his third full marathon to raise money for The Lullaby Trust. The trust is a charity dedicated to raising awareness of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), as well as to supporting bereaved families. Richard originally planned to take part in the 2019 event, but an injury and the covid pandemic means that this will be his first opportunity to take part.
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