TRAINING shoes have been dusted off by Huddersfield people preparing for Sunday's London Marathon.

They will be among thousands of athletes and fun runners from across the world taking part and raising money for a variety of charities.

* Julie Sykes, a Shepley mother-of-two, will be making her first marathon attempt and is raising money for the Anthony Nolan Trust.

Julie, a human resources consultant, and her husband, Kirklees councillor Peter Sykes, have been on the bone marrow register for 15 years.

The Anthony Nolan Trust recruits volunteers to provide bone marrow donations for leukaemia sufferers.

* Mark Painter, of Cowlersley, hopes to raise £1,500 for the MS Trust which helps people with multiple sclerosis.

Mark, who is married to Jill and works for the Halifax bank in Cloth Hall Street, is running in memory of his sister, Kathryn, who fought MS for 13 years and died in January last year, aged 34.

* John Philpott, a veteran competitor, will be running his 11th London Marathon.

Mr Philpott, an independent financial adviser wants to raise £1,000 for Yorkshire Cancer Research and Thurstonland First School.

He will be cheered on by his wife, practice nurse Joanne - who has recently been given the all-clear from cervical cancer - and their four children.

Fellow members of Holmfirth Round Table and Holmfirth Harriers, who he has run with since 1980, are also supporting him as a veteran competitor.

* The Rev Eddie Wynn, a curate, will be realising an ambition when he takes part.

He set himself the target of running a marathon before he reached his 40th birthday - and at 38 has achieved it two years early.

He hopes to raise more than £1,000 for Cancer Research UK with the support of parishioners at St James's, Flockton, and St Michael's, Emley, where he preaches.

* Pat Ainsworth, also of Emley, aims to complete her ninth London Marathon and raise more than £1,000 for Kirkwood Hospice, Dalton.

Pat, 58, of Rectory Lane works in the education department at New Hall women's prison, Flockton.

She took up distance running about 15 years ago and trains with husband Jim.

The couple go trekking together all over the world and have raised about £60,000 for charity between them over the years.

* Alex Langley, a policeman, is also raising money for Kirkwood Hospice and will be donning a sunflower bonnet during the race.

Pc Langley, 29, is from London, but moved to West Yorkshire about 15 months ago with his wife, Melanie. He now works in Dewsbury.

* Paul Lee, a Meltham athlete, is raising money for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

He was airlifted to hospital after breaking a foot playing soccer. He is 29, an exhibition designer in Ilkley and lives in Thick Hollins.

* Phillip Hobbs, an accountant, of Upperthong, is also running the race for the first time and is raising money for Guide Dogs for the Blind.

Mr Hobbs, 39 is being supported by his partner and two sons, Harry and George. The family live in Towngate.

* Raymond Carroll and Beverley Thomas, Newsome training partners, are raising money for Leukaemia Care.

Raymond, a butcher, met Beverley when she was a customer at his shop in Towngate. They have completed and trained for several marathons together since then, raising thousands of pounds.

* Kevin Spencer, Huddersfield Technical College marketing officer, hopes to raise £500 to promote voluntary programmes teaching English abroad.

Kevin, 26, of Cowcliffe spent six weeks last year teaching English and PE in an Ecuador primary school.

* Kevin Emsley, 50, managing partner with law firm Lupton Fawcett, is running for the Holly Bank Trust.

He wanted his 50th birthday to be a momentous occasion - and decided running a marathon would suffice.

He is vice-chairman and governor of Holly Bank Trust in Mirfield and chairman of the Rooftops Project. The money will buy special equipment for the 70 children and young people with physical and learning difficulties.

* Nicola Watson, 33, of Marsh, is raising money for the Meningitis Trust charity, in memory of her nephew, Charlie Siswick, who died from the disease three years ago. It is Nicola's first marathon and she hopes to raise £1,500.

* Kirk Wild, 28, of Scott Hill, Clayton West, was spurred on to run the race after his mother contracted breast cancer, from which she has recovered.

Kirk, an electrician, is asthmatic and has found training a challenge. But he wants to complete the race in under four-and-a-half-hours.