A midwife from Rishton has decided to take on her first marathon to raise money for her friend’s chosen charity – East Lancashire Hospice.

Elisabeth Devey, 41, was asked to run the London Marathon with her friend, but unfortunately her friend cannot run due to ill health.

She said: “I didn’t plan to do it for charity, as I have raised money for other charities in the past, but I knew how important East Lancashire Hospice was to my friend.”

Elisabeth is a student midwife while still working as a paediatric phlebotomist at Royal Blackburn Hospital and has managed to impressively balance training with her family with her work and studying.

Lancashire Telegraph: Elisabeth DeveyElisabeth Devey (Image: East Lancs Hospice)

During training, Elisabeth has the full support from her family, with her husband Gareth collecting her after her long runs.

The couple and their two sons Anderson, 11, and Grayson, 10, "Ran The Lights" last year in Blackpool, with the boys running the 5k and Elisabeth 10k.

Her longest run to date has been 17 miles and while Elisabeth does not think of herself as a runner, she has still managed to complete two Birmingham half marathons, two Manchester half marathons and the Disney Marathon in 2015.

She said: “I am really not a runner. I started running eight years ago for charity when my best friend became very poorly.

"People thought I was crazy, I was 17 stone and couldn’t even run a bath!

“Over the years I have dipped in and out of running to keep up some kind of fitness.

"When I ran the Disney marathon, I had a knee injury which meant I couldn’t achieve the training miles I desired and ended up running/walking it.

"The challenge this time will be to run the whole marathon!”

Elisabeth met Mary Pomfret, a 71-year-old woman from Mellor, who is also taking on the London Marathon on behalf of East Lancashire Hospice in memory of her late husband who was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer.

The two got chatting and found out they had a lot in common and Elisabeth says she is hoping to catch up with Mary before they head down to London on April 23.

To support Elisabeth visit her JustGiving page by clicking here.