A MOTHER of two from Holsworthy is set to put her best foot forward for a charity run.

Diana Stevens will be hitting the streets of London on April 23, aiming to raise hundreds of pounds for the Countryside Alliance Foundation.

The London Marathon will be her first ever full marathon, and although Diana recently completed the Bideford half-marathon, Diana lays no claim to be a distance runner.

Five years ago Diana found out she had breast cancer and she put her success in combating the disease down to the support of those around her in her rural lifestyle.

Diana said: “I’m running the London Marathon for the Countryside Alliance Foundation because I want to help educate children about rural life.

“I’m passionate about the countryside and take every opportunity to tell people about its beauty and the importance of rural life. It will be coming up to five years that I was diagnosed with breast cancer and it was my rural network that supported me through a long year of chemotherapy, surgery and finally radiotherapy.

“The Countryside Alliance Foundation organises various events such as Casting for Recovery aimed at those recovering from breast cancer. The foundation uses educational initiatives to introduce children and their teachers to the beauty, importance and diversity of our rural heritage; inspiring them to become passionate about its future and protect it for future generations.”

Diana added: “I want to use my five year anniversary to make a difference and help protect the countryside and the rural way of life. Also to help children living in urban areas to understand the countryside and the power of rural communities.”

Diana has been heard to say ‘you can take the girl out of the countryside but you cannot take the countryside out of the girl’.

So on April 23, Diana will take the countryside to London to emphasise the great work done by the Countryside Alliance Foundation.

Those wishing to support Diana in this very worthwhile cause can make a donation by visiting the website www.justgiving.com/fundraising/beckleythecat

l A LADY from Holsworthy is preparing to run in this year’s Virgin London Marathon on Sunday, April 23, in aid of the charity Coeliac UK.

Anne Binns, 51, is running the London Marathon for the second time, this time to raise funds for Coeliac UK, the national charity for people with coeliac disease.

Anne told the Post: “I am running the London Marathon this year to raise awareness of the disease and to raise funds for Coeliac UK because of the help and support they gave me when I was diagnosed and it’s great that Coeliac UK will be there cheering for us on the day!”

“This will be my sixth marathon and I hope to finish it in under four hours and aim to raise £500 for Coeliac UK come the big day.”

Anne has previously taken part in five marathons: London, Loch Ness, Edinburgh, Bournemouth and Boston (USA).

Anne said: “I ran my first London Marathon in a time of 4hours 2minutes and am really hoping to beat that this time around.

“I qualified for this year’s London Marathon because I had a good run at Edinburgh and am of a certain age — there are a number of conditions to qualify; for younger people they can win a championship place, but for a woman in the 50 and over bracket it runs on a sliding scale where you have to achieve a sub four run.

“I will need to get a sub four time at this London Marathon though if I want to run next year because my Edinburgh time won’t qualify me again — so no pressure!”

Speaking about her training, Anne said: “I have been on a training program where I complete three 20-mile runs — I did one 20-mile run as a race and managed to finish in 2hrs 57mins, which is an indicator I could get the sub four I am hoping for!

“I train with the Okehampton running club — I am a member of the group — and they have been a big support!”

Anne decided to run for Coeliac UK after being diagnosed with coeliac disease 14 months ago.

She said: “I began the diet in January 2016 but found out the year before when I had gone in for an endoscopy for another procedure. I hadn’t been showing the usual signs of coeliac, no gut problems etc, but had been feeling tired and run down — I just thought it was because of the marathon training. People need to be aware, you won’t always notice the symptoms straight away.”

Coeliac disease is a serious autoimmune disease caused by intolerance to gluten. When gluten (a protein found in wheat, rye and barley) is eaten, damage to the gut lining occurs. There is no cure or medication for the condition; the only treatment is a lifelong, strict gluten free diet. If someone with coeliac disease doesn’t stick to a gluten free diet, the disease can lead to other conditions such as malnutrition, osteoporosis and small bowel cancer.

Anne said: “My worst marathon ever was the Boston one. Whilst in America I was given gluten by accident at a restaurant, I was very poorly and wasn’t able to run as well as I would have liked to! I am hoping this marathon won’t be a disappointment like Boston.”

One in 100 people in the UK has coeliac disease but only 24% of those with the condition have been diagnosed. There are an estimated half a million people in the UK who have the condition yet don’t know it. The charity’s online assessment can be found at www.isitcoeliacdisease.org.uk for anyone concerned about their symptoms and would like to find out more.

Anne added: “I am very happy to do my bit to raise awareness of coeliac disease by running the London Marathon. If it means that just one more person thinks that it’s worth getting tested as a result then that would be fantastic!”

Coeliac UK’s Awareness Week is taking place from May 8 o May 14. The ‘Gluten Freevolution’ campaign aims to increase understanding and better availability of safe gluten free food when eating away from home. It will highlight the growing demand across the country for improved choice and availability when eating out gluten free and to encourage both private and public sector catering establishments to provide great gluten free food that is safe from cross contamination.

l CAMELFORD husband and wife, Matt and Sam Allan, organised a FLEET charity bingo night at Camelford Town Hall on Saturday, April 8, which raised in excess of £1,200.

Both Matt and Sam are running the London Marathon on Sunday. Since November they have raised in excess of £4,000 for FLEET thanks to events such as a ‘Pop till you Drop’ event, a casino night and a meet and greet with Santa.

Their latest idea, a bingo night, attracted an audience of over 100, leaving Matt delighted.

Matt said: “We’ve done fundraising events for different age groups and this one was perfect as we had people taking part from a young age right up to their 80s.

“We had great support from local businesses and also from our friends and family who helped with all the different jobs required.

“We also had Roy and Joan from St Merryn who are well-known bingo callers. They helped recommend the dos and don’ts of how to make it a great evening.

“We made an amazing £1,200 after all the expenses were paid out for and we’ve raised over £4,000 although we’ll wait until after the marathon to find out the final figure. We can’t thank everyone enough for all their support, we’ve done much better than we ever thought we would.”

Running 26-miles is no easy task. But with just three days to go, Matt believes that he and his wife are as prepared as they can be.

Matt added: “Over the last few months we’ve done a lot of running.

“We started off slowly and gradually built our distances up. We started with ten milers, then 12 and 15 and so on as well as a few half marathons.

“In recent weeks as we’ve got fitter and stronger from running four or five times a week.

“We’ve run 20-miles from Camelford to Launceston and also we did 22-miles to Bude. We’re hoping that we’ll be able to do the marathon in less than four and a half hours. We’ve learned as we’ve gone on about the importance of your diet and preparations for the run and we actually pulled up well after doing the Launceston and Bude runs.

“From now on it’s all about relaxing and eating correctly until Sunday. We go up on the bus with all the other FLEET runners and we’ll just stay in the hotel until it’s time to go to the race.”