SHE may be in her 60s, but hardy Pat Ainsworth is back in the running for a 12th London Marathon for charity.

Mrs Ainsworth, 63, of Emley, will be braving Britain’s best known 26-mile slog for Cancer Research on April 26.

No stranger to running for charity, Pat picked up an Examiner Community Award last year having raised £100,000 for good causes, including Kirkwood Hospice, in runs and treks over more than 20 years.

Mrs Ainsworth, an administrator at New Hall Prison’s education department, has also run the New York Marathon and completed five international treks including one in the Himalayas, along the Great Wall of China, on Mount Fuji in Japan and the Inca Trail in Peru.

Pat, who trains all year round with husband Jim, now hopes to raise a further £2,000 for Cancer Research in London.

Pat says: “I’m always nervous even though I’ve done it before.

“I always think: ‘Have I done enough training?’ You wonder if you’re going to be all right but I usually get around in one piece.

“The training is the hard part and the marathon is something to look forward to.

“I just want to try to make a difference and challenge myself.”

To sponsor Pat call: 01924 848 003.

Two old school friends are running the London Marathon together.

Richard Hanvey and Alastair Islip are taking on the challenge for the first time.

The pair have been training hard, running from their homes in Netherton to Lockwood and Honley. They also keep fit playing football for Berry Brow.

Richard is running for disabled children’s charity Whizz-Kidz and Alastair is running for Sense, a charity for the deaf and blind.

Richard, 25, said: “There’s two reasons why we decided to do the marathon.

“Number one was that it was for charity and it is obviously a good cause.

“Number two was that both of us like a challenge and it’s something we’ve never done before.”

Marathon man Ian Conroy has been given a leg-up by a Huddersfield gym as he prepares for the London Marathon.

Forty-year-old Mr Conroy, of Ashfield Road, Birkby, has been given free membership and personal training sessions at Heritage Health Academy in Lindley to get in shape.

The father-of-one will be part of a team of workers from BT taking part

He said: “It’s going really well – I could only run for about half an hour when I started, now I’m up to 20 miles.”

Mr Conroy is raising money for Childline. To sponsor go to www.justgiving.com/ianconroy