A MOTHER and son team from Mill Hill near Tavistock are getting ready to run in one of the 'smallest' marathons for charity.

Gill and Iain Court will help celebrate the Tresco Marathon's tenth anniversary when they run 26.2 miles on April 26 to raise funds for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

Mrs Court and her son, Iain, 20, will be joining 125 other runners including GMTV presenter and cystic fibrosis (CF) patron Ben Shephard, to complete the race and in turn achieve the full distance of one lap around the world, covering over a staggering 25,000 miles in ten years.

Tresco, one of the Isles of Scilly, provides a special alternative to the famous London Marathon. The 26.2 mile course is made up of seven and a half laps run in a figure of eight around a three and a half mile circuit.

In the ten years since the marathon began, the Tresco community along with more than 1,000 runners have helped to raise a whopping £500,000, seen the circumference of the earth covered as well as 8,400 energy drinks consumed.

The Tresco Marathon began in 2000 when Pete Hingston, island chef and father of 11-year-old Jade who has CF, was unable to get to London to take part in the city's Flora Marathon.

He was so keen to run to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust that he decided to do a marathon on the same day around the island instead. The whole island has since embraced the idea and the marathon has now become an amazing tradition which has gone from strength to strength.

Mrs Court, 51, said: 'The Tresco marathon is a huge challenge, but knowing the money raised will be going into vital research, which will hopefully make a difference to the lives of those with CF, is a great motivator.'

Sponsorship money raised will help fund research into treating and curing CF. It will also help provide support, advice and appropriate clinical care to the 8,000 babies, children and young adults with cystic fibrosis in the UK.