A DROITWICH man is in training to run the London marathon in a bid to raise £2,000 for a cause close to his heart.

Colin Pilot has already run four marathons, having taken on the London run three times, but this year he’s running for the Pancreatic Cancer Research fund, after losing his brother to the condition three years ago.

Mr Pilot said: “I lost my brother to pancreatic cancer in 2011 when he was only 46. He was a rugby coach and a fit bloke, so it was a big surprise when he was diagnosed. There’s only a five per cent survival rate from diagnosis, because it’s not easily detected and once it is it’s usually quite far along, but he had surgery to remove all sorts of things and he survived a year after that.

“The charity funds vital research into earlier detection, and they’re trying to develop a simple test that can be used.”

Mr Pilot ran his last full marathon in 2012, when he sustained a foot and knee injury, which badly strained his calf muscle, causing him to have to shuffle the last mile, but after a lot of training around the streets of Oddingley, Droitwich and Tibberton, he has now tried his leg out in several half marathons, and he’s feeling ready to take on the 26.2 mile run again on Sunday, April 13.

He added: “I’m not a serious runner, I’m just doing my bit for raising awareness.”

Mr Pilot has already organised everything from raffles to samosa and cake sales to help boost his fundraising efforts, but if anyone would like to sponsor his marathon attempt, they should visit virginmoneygiving.com/colinpilot.