POUNDING the streets and hills around Tavistock to prepare for a gruelling marathon will hopefully be worth all the effort for runner Laura Stapleton, who is raising money for a cancer charity, which is so important to her.
Laura, who is the captain of ladies first team at Tavistock Hockey Club, is looking forward to taking part in the Duchy Marathon on March 7.
She is appealing to people in West Devon to back her with sponsorship for Bowel Cancer West — which itself is being launched on March 11.
Laura herself is the programme manager for Lapco — the national training programme for laparoscopic colorectal surgery. BCW is lead by consultant Mark Coleman at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth and it aims to improve the way it diagnoses and treats patients with bowel cancer by supporting training and research.
This would be Laura's third marathon but her last two were in 1998 and 2002 - including the London Marathon.
Laura, 35, who lives in College Avenue, Tavistock, said: 'All my training for this is done in and around the hills of Tavistock, and the Duchy Marathon, which takes place at Redruth, is renown for its hills, so I am training in the right place!
'I would really like to try and raise £1000 if possible for BCW, so every opportunity to raise funds counts and it might help if I could get some local coverage.'
If anyone would like to sponsor Laura please donate via email at [email protected]">[email protected], call 01752 439845 or visit the website http://www.bowelcancerwest.org.uk">www.bowelcancerwest.org.uk