WITH just over two months and two weeks to go this year’s London Marathon, runners are getting on their marks for charity.

On April 17, thousands of runners will travel from all over the UK to take part in the marathon and there will be lots of runners from Dorset hoping to raise thousands of pounds for charity.

Greenhill resident, Laura Putnam, 25, will be among those running for charity. She will be running for the Stroke Association, which aims to provide information and support for people who have been affected by strokes and their families.

Laura is an occupational therapy student at Brunel University in London, but spends her weekends back in Dorset.

She has spent time working with stroke patients over Christmas at Dorset County Hospital and hopes to go into stroke rehabilitation when she finishes her degree course.

She added that the charity is very close to her heart and said: “My mum had a stroke when she was young. It was because of a problem with medical treatment and nothing to do with diet or not exercising.

“She made a full recovery and is now a teacher, so I’m running for her.”

She added that there is a lot of misunderstanding surrounding strokes.

She said: “It’s not just adults that have strokes, it can happen to children too.

“People think it’s because of over eating or not enough exercise but it doesn’t necessarily work like that.

“It’s about supporting people and their families to help them through it.”

Laura is hoping to raise £2,500 for the charity and has raised £500 already.

She said: “When I signed up it seemed a long time away and now it’s January and it’s not far at all.

“The training is going well and so far I have run 15 miles, so hopefully by April I will have got it up to 20.”

She added: “It would be unbelievable to finish the marathon and probably quite emotional because it’s for my mum. It would be the best achievement of my life.

“It will be great with my friends and family there. I just need to keep focused on getting through.”

To sponsor Laura visit www.justgiving.com/laura-putnam.

* Are you running this year’s marathon? Please contact Catherine Bolado at catherine.bolado@dorsetecho.co.uk or call 01305 830985 and tell her your story.