TWO Wellington sisters have coined in the cash for the hospice which cared for their mother by running in the London Marathon.

Paula Wadham and Alison Longley raised more than £5,000 for St Margaret’s Hospice, which looked after Janet Heal, who died last June aged 66 after being diagnosed with cancer. The sisters learnt her care cost £500 a day, all of which was funded by charity donations.

Paula, 47, and Alison, 44, said: “This whole experience has helped us both grieve and come to terms with the loss of our mum – the strength and support we were both able to give each other through those hundreds of training miles has been very special.”

The pair completed more than 100 training runs totalling in excess of 500 miles since October 2016. They were quite often seen running between Taunton and Wellington – and had lots of support from friendly motorists encouraging them.

The sisters started the London Marathon at Greenwich Park with all the charity runners but it took 30 minutes to cross the start line after the hooter sounded to get the event under way. The landmarks came and went – Cutty Sark, London Bridge, the Isle of Dogs and the Millennium Wheel, until they arrived at Big Ben.

They said: “The crowds were thick and loud, and they knew the finish line was just around the corner. As we came to Buckingham Palace we made sure that our numbers were showing ready for the photographs on the finish line. We completed 26.2 miles in 5 hours and 34 mins.”

Paula, who had her first wedding anniversary on the day of the marathon, and Alison said they had underestimated the power of spectators’ support. “They called out our names throughout the whole race,” they said. “We were carried along, even having enough energy to dance at the many live bands lining the route. We were handed many things as fuel including jelly sweets, pints of lager, strawberries and even a ham sandwich! It was a truly memorable experience.”

Alison and Paula, who dubbed themselves the ‘Marathon Sisters’ had both previously run half-marathons but ‘that was 20 years ago’.

Their fundraising page is http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/the marathonsisters