A Cwmbran man is running the London Marathon on Sunday to raise money for a charity that supports one of his close friends. Simon Fish, from Henllys, will be tacking the 26 miles in aid of LUPUS UK.

You can sponsor Simon by going to his JustGiving page. Don’t forget to Gift Aid to boost your donation. Visit www.justgiving.com/Simon-Fish-LupusUK

Simon said: “Lupus is a chronic and presently-incurable illness of the immune system, a condition in which the body’s defence mechanism begins to attack itself through an excess of antibodies in the blood stream causing inflammation and damage in the joints, muscles and other organs.

“I aim to raise £1000 for LUPUS UK and I am doing so because a good friend of mine has suffered with this illness for 13 years. Over the last few years the effects of lupus has meant that amongst other things, his kidneys have now started to fail and he is currently having dialysis as he waits for a kidney transplant.

“Having seen how this incurable illness can affect the lives of patients and their families is the reason for me to take on this challenge and raise money for this worthy cause.”

Sunday will be the culmination of over eight months of pounding the streets of Cwmbran.

Simon said: “I started back in August with the training intensifying just before Christmas and got to a peak in February and March when I was doing my longest runs, a couple of 20 mile runs an 18 miler and plenty of 13 to 16 mile runs.

“All the hard training and long runs are now behind me, I am tapering down the training and ready to start loading the carbohydrates. I have felt good in training and all being well on race day I hopefully aim to finish in just under four hours, but obviously the main aim is to raise awareness and funds for LUPUS UK.”

LUPUS UK is the only national registered charity supporting people with systemic lupus and discoid lupus and assisting those approaching diagnosis.

Visit www.lupusuk.org.uk to find out more.