All Systems Go For London Marathon Mums

Two young mums are heading for the London Marathon in good spirits after completing successful training campaigns and smashing their fund-raising targets in aid of pancreatic cancer research.

Diana Rowlands and Elly Davies, who both had babies last summer, held a series of fund-raisers including quizzes in Hellesdon and Aylsham, to aid research into the disease which claimed the life of Elly’s mother and Diana’s mother-in-law Karen Rowlands.

READY FOR THE CHALLENGE: Elly Davies and Diana Rowlands

Karen, who lived at Roughton near Cromer and worked as a weaver at Alby Barns near Aylsham, was an all-action sporting all-rounder, and mother-of-four, who died aged 64.

Diana and Elly decided to take on the challenge of running the London Marathon for the first time as a fitting way to pay tribute to her.

They have been deeply moved by the response to their fundraising efforts as the 26-mile April 21 challenge looms large.

“We’ve actually raised £7240 so far between Elly and I which is nearly double our required target of £2000 each,” said Diana, who lives in Drayton.

“People have been so generous and it’s been very moving and motivational. We’re hoping to get this up to £8000 by the time we’ve finished – so fingers crossed!”

She added: “We’ve completed the Blickling and Great Yarmouth half-marathons as part of our training and we have both completed our long runs -18 miles for me and 20 miles for Elly – so we’re feeling as prepared as we can be!”

To raise funds and awareness Diana held successful quizzes at Blofield, Old Catton, Hellesdon, Aylsham and Northrepps and Elly hosted live music nights at Roughton and Trunch where she sang with her husband Ben Davies.

Anyone who wishes to donate can visit:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/dianarowlands

To follow their progress on race day, download the London Marathon 2024 app and follow their bib numbers – Diana (32383) and Elly (25899).

INSPIRATION: Karen Rowlands.