Veteran fundraiser Pat Ainsworth has vowed to keep on running after landing a place in her 18th London Marathon.
Pat, of Emley, will be 69 when she makes the starting line in the capital next April.
While contemplating retirement after this year’s event, Pat stuck her name in the online public ballot hardly expecting to secure a place.
Despite applications being heavily over-subscribed – runners only have a one-in-seven chance – Pat was successful, and didn’t take any persuading to pull on her running shoes once more.
“I’d already applied for a place through Marie Curie Cancer Care anyway but I didn’t expect to get one through the ballot system,” she said.
“These days it is virtually impossible because there’s something like 125,000 applicants. For me it was pure luck, or maybe fate.”
Pat, who has raised well over £120,000 for charity causes over the last 20 years, had considered giving up marathons.
But she has now decided she wants to make it to 20, so she has three more to go before she finally calls enough.
“When I did my first one in 1994 I just wanted to get round in one piece but it was an unforgettable, life-changing experience,” she said.
“My aim now is to make it to 20, as long as my health and fitness holds up.”
Pat, who completes the 26-mile course in around six hours, is now mentoring London Marathon first-timer Emily Hards, a nurse from Leeds, who will also run for Marie Curie.
Pat said: “She is quite nervous but I will be giving her some tips on training, accommodation and travel. We won’t be running together but I will help her all I can.”
Money raised by Pat and Emily will pay for Marie Curie nurses who care for terminally-ill patients at home.
