Wellingborough marathon runners keep it in the family

Sonia and Deanne Hay will be raising money for a cancer charity

A mother and daughter are tackling the London Marathon together to help families touched by cancer.

Sonia Hay from Wellingborough, whose son Kyle had cancer twice, will line up at the start in Blackheath on Sunday alongside her daughter, Deanne.

They want to "give something back" for all the help charity Young Lives vs Cancer gave them when Kyle was ill.

They have been running in all weather to prepare for the 26.2-mile challenge and even ran on holiday in Barbados.

Sonia said she was "excited, nervous, scared, everything" about taking part.

Sonia and Deanne will line up with thousands of other runners in London

Her son was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma when he was 14 and CLIC Sargent, now know as Young Lives vs Cancer, was "amazing."

She said the charity "helped us as a family so much and you just watch how families are struggling with everything that comes with that diagnosis - the fear that your child's not going to live, but also how you're going to pay your bills because you're not working."

Deanne, who was 11 at the time her brother was ill, remembers how the charity "took us to Scotland - we had a free hotel.

"There were also footballers that we met and we watched a side with David Beckham play.

"I don't think I ever thought [Kyle] was actually going to die," she added, "At that point, we weren't really the best of friends but I felt very positive,"

Kyle recovered but was then diagnosed with cancer again when he was 27.

He survived that too and will be watching from the sidelines.

Sonia and Deanne will be running with thousands of people from across the world.

Deanne added: "I have a relationship with God, I just felt like he was saying: 'Do the marathon'.

"I was like 'no, no, no", but mum signed up and I signed up and we've been running on holiday in Barbados - we've been running in the rain - I don't even go to the gym if it's raining."

Sonia and Deanne braved the Barbados heat to practise their running

Sonia found that people who knew her did not believe she could do the marathon, as they had not seen her complete even the shortest running target.

She said: "I called my old manager and she said: "you were like couch to couch, not even couch to 5K."