A MALVERN man who used to skive off school games lessons is preparing to run his first London Marathon.

Mark Cooling, of Poundbank Road, is looking for support from local businesses to raise £2,500 for the cancer research charity, Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

The 31-year-old, who works as a plastic technician at L G G Charlesworth Ltd in Spring Lane, said he was inspired to run the race for the charity after his wife had a close call a few years ago.

He said: "She had a couple of tests last week and the results show there are no problems, but it makes you think.

"Also, I work at the Cross Keys pub and they have been doing a lot for the charity over the past few months. Somebody mentioned the marathon and I just agreed to do it."

Mr Cooling's training has consisted so far of working out on a treadmill and a little bit of road running.

"I'm really looking forward to it but I'm finding it quite hard to train because I'm doing it on my own," he said.

"I've set a target of running it in less than five hours, which I know doesn't sound very quick."

So far, Mr Cooling has raised about £870. If anybody would like to sponsor him or train with him, he can be contacted on 07951 302205.