THIS year’s London Marathon will be a test of stamina, strength, and singing ability for one Weymouth runner.

Keith Pullen, 56, is raising money for the children’s cancer support charity CLIC Sargent by busking.

The senior software engineer at Ultra Electronics has already collected over £1,800 in donations, but is now looking to increase that total.

Mr Pullen will perform hits by the likes of The Kinks, Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell at the Weymouth branch of Sainsbury’s on Saturday, February 8.

He said: “My current plan is to take my guitar along and instead of just holding a bucket to try and do a busking marathon.

“I’ll just sort of sing and play the guitar and hopefully people won’t be too driven away from the sound.”

Mr Pullen’s marathon dream started almost a year ago, when he decided to lose weight after a skiing trip to the Courchevel resort in France.

He joined Egdon Heath Harriers, a Dorset Running Club, and took part in his first half-marathon in Bournemouth in October.

He said: “It was tough. I did what everyone said I shouldn’t do and went off much too fast, so by the end I was virtually on my knees. But I got round in under two hours, which I was really pleased with.”

Mr Pullen grew up in South East London and went to school a stone’s throw away from the starting point of the London Marathon.

The weather and dark nights have made training difficult in the past month, but Mr Pullen is still hoping to finish the race in less than four hours.

“I’ve come back hopefully reinvigorated and I need to start doing longer distances really at weekends.

“I’m pretty confident I’ll be able to get round. It’s just a question of how fast I’ll be able to do it in.”

This year’s London Marathon will take place on Sunday, April 13.  To support Keith and CLIC Sargent visit keithsmarathondream.co.uk