Shropshire and Mid Wales runners head for the London Marathon

From the elite and club athletes to the charity runners, they will between them raise tens of thousands of pounds for charity.

The 26.2 mile race will be the culmination of 16 weeks of tough training that has seen them cover hundreds of miles in snow and sub zero temperatures.

When Andrew Davies tackles the marathon it will be his 11-year-old son Tommy and the hospital that treated him that will help him reach the finish line.

For Mr Davies' son has muscular dystrophy and for the past decade he had been fundraising for charities involved in his care.

The 34-year-old from Dunkeld Drive, Shrewsbury, has completed more than a dozen marathons, from London to Athens, Berlin and Canada and taken part in many other long distance events such as the annual Long Mynd 20-mile challenge.

Last year Tommy also joined in, pushed around in a specially adapted wheelchair during a fun run in Sutton Coldfield.

This year Mr Davies is raising money for a £500,000 appeal for a £2 million bone cancer centre at the Orthopaedic Hospital at Oswestry.

He said: "The training has been tough in the winter weather but I am sure that the thought of raising the money for the Orthopaedic Hospital will get me round. The hospital has done to much to help Tommy."

Shropshire's running clubs all have representatives taking part.

The Ellesmere-based, Trismart club's five marathon competitors include Michelle Bowen taking part in the elite lady race and Jon Bowie whose sub three-hour time puts him in the championship race.

Nick Thomas, Andy Birch and Steve Meek will also represent Trismart.

Wrekin Road Runners also has five runners including Mick Fereday and Neil Jefferson who were picked out of the hat for the two club places while Oswestry Olympians is also represented.

The number of Newport runners is down this year.

Newport and District Running Club usually takes up to 10 runners, but this year two members – Selwyn Plant and Graham Rogers – earned places.

Marie Beddows, 42 from Priorslee, runs for Wolverhampton and Bilston, and is hoping to cross the finish line in three and a half hours.

Then eight weeks later she will be taking part in the first Shrewsbury Marathon as will another London Marathon runner Melvyn Austin, 54, from Ellesmere.

After the London Marathon, Dewi Owen, 40, a teacher at Newtown High School will be competing in November's New York Marathon.

Mr Owen, from Leighton near Welshpool, hopes to raise £2,000 for Save the Children.

Several Shropshire charities benefitting include Hope House and the Severn Hospice, while an appeal for a new bone cancer centre at the Orthopaedic Hospital in Oswestry has no less than 28 runners taking part.

One of those is Newport firefighter Martin Richardson gearing up to run his fifth London Marathon.

Many raising money for charity have a personal reason for doing so.

Shrewsbury mum Ruth Lovett, 39, is taking on the course to help beat cystic fibrosis as her two children Dylan and Lily have the condition.

It is a life-shortening genetic condition which causes the internal organs, especially the lungs and digestive system, to become clogged with thick, sticky mucus, resulting in chronic infections and inflammation of the lungs.

She said: "This is my first marathon but I thought it would be good to run one in my 40th year.

"My two children Dylan and Lily both have cystic fibrosis and they work very hard every day to keep well, taking lots of tablets and medication and doing physiotherapy to keep their lungs clear.

"I want to raise money to help fund research into better treatments so that my kids can have a brighter future."

Jason Lippitt, from Telford, will be raising money for The British Heart Foundation.

Jason's son, Joe, 11, has a rare heart condition and will need specialised heart surgery before he becomes an adult.

Jason said: "Joe is so full of life and has such a love of sport in spite of his condition that I felt a bit ashamed of myself last year for not doing more exercise, which is why I took on the Sheffield Half-Marathon last year, again raising money for The British Heart Foundation.

"I was shattered after the Sheffield Half-Marathon but I knew I wouldn't feel satisfied until I'd taken on the challenge of a whole marathon, which is why I'm running the London Marathon this year.

"It's about raising money for a charity requiring such huge resources and raising awareness about the fantastic job it does helping people like Joe live their lives to the fullest against the odds."