Thetford woman raising money for the men

A Thetford woman will take the unusual step of running the London Marathon to raise money for a charity supporting sufferers of a male condition.

Wendy Paremain, a teacher at Forest Academy in Bury Road, Brandon, has begun pounding the pavements in support of the Prostate Cancer Charity in memory of her uncle and in support of her grandfather.

Her uncle, Christopher Spooner, 54, died in 2008 from the disease, the same year in which her grandfather, Kenneth Spooner, from Newton Flotman, who is in his 80s, was diagnosed. He is now receiving injections to keep the cancer under control.

Miss Paremain, 32, from Thetford, said: “You never expect something like that to happen in your own family. Before that I hadn’t had any experience with it at all.

“It made me want to spread the word about prostate cancer, as it doesn’t seem to get the same level of attention as female cancers get, but men really need to know about it.

“I am running for those that have fought, those that are fighting and those that will fight this terrible disease.”

Miss Paremain is no stranger to keeping fit as a member of Thetford Athletics Club, but said she was surprised at how much training was needed for the marathon on April 17.

“I had no aspiration whatsoever to run a marathon previously - the most I’ve done is half a marathon.

“I’ve been overwhelmed by the amount of time it takes to train for a marathon and as a teacher it’s quite a lot of time out of your life.

“It will be a great sense of achievement when I finish though. It’s quite a demanding distance and I didn’t realise how much effort it would be to get out there but it will be worth it in the end.”

She is hoping to raise �500 for the charity.

?To sponsor her visit www.justgiving.com/Wendy-p