Kevin Finan hugged his 19-month-old nephew Jack after crossing the London Marathon finishing line and raising cash to help run a hostel next to the Royal London Hospital for parents to be near their sick kids.
Tiny Jack weighed no more than a 1lb bag of sugar and spent the first six months of his life at the hospital, while mum and dad from Basildon stayed at the hostel run by the Sick Children’s Trust.
Chartered accountant Kevin, 26, has added up £2,200 after completing the run in 5hrs 51mins.
Another fundraiser for the Whitechapel hostel, sales manager Cliff May, 31, went against doctors’ advice to take part after suffering heart palpitations. He walked and managed to reach 10 miles, raising £3,111 from his 53 sponsors—just for taking part.
A squad of 28 runners took part in aid of Richard House, the east London children’s hospice in Beckton.
They included two 70-year-olds—hospice garden volunteer Derek James, completing in 4hrs 22mins, and Mick Ball, who runs for Barking Road Runners club which has been supporting the charity for 10 years, having now raised £45,000 since 2003.
Other hospice volunteers manned the water station at the 14th mile on the marathon route at The Highway in Shadwell.
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