Two sisters are running the London marathon in memory of their late father on April 13.

Sallyanne Ellington and Stacey Rudd, both of Emneth, will push themselves to the limit in aid of the Institute of Cancer Research and Cancer Research UK.

The pair have already started with their fundraising - more than 150 people attended a fitness charity event they organised in King’s Lynn on Saturday, raising an impressive £1,243.50 for the Institute of Cancer Research.

The “get fit and fight cancer” event was run by Mark Flowers of Motiv8 Exercise and Fitness.

Mrs Ellington said: “It was absolutely amazing. We did not expect to raise that much so we are really chuffed.”

April 13 is a very poignant date for the two sisters - they lost their father to cancer on that date seven years ago and it will also be Mrs Ellington’s daughter Sophie’s eighth birthday.

She said: “My dad was only 51 when he died and we’ve been wanting to do something in our father’s memory. When we found out the race was on April 13 it seemed fitting to go for it.

“Neither of us have run a marathon before but we have reached 22 miles in our training, so we are not feeling too bad about the race, although it is a bit nerve wracking.

“We would like to raise lots of money on this special day for a fantastic cause and hope people will help us to reach our fundraising target of £5,000.”

You can support Sallyanne by donating at www.justgiving.com/sallyanne-ellington