HUNDREDS of people from across Dorset will be taking part in the iconic London Marathon on Sunday. Here some local runners share their reasons for taking on the 26.2-mile challenge...

1. Ruth Oliver, 52, a sales consultant from Corfe Mullen, is running for the British Lung Foundation in memory of her beloved dad, Martin Oliver.

Ruth is running with Jo Stoker, a teacher at Broadmayne First School in Dorchester, who is fundraising for VICTA (Vision Impaired Children Taking Action).

Ruth said: "We are both members of Run Blandford and Jo and I have done all our training together and plan to run together on the day."

2. A man with a brain tumour has joined forces with The Brain Tumour Charity to support their early diagnosis campaign, HeadSmart.

Chandos Green, 22, from Bournemouth, was first diagnosed with a brain tumour when he was just three. At six, the tumour returned. He remained in remission until June 2014, when he was diagnosed once again.

3. Former Bournemouth woman, Emily Apps, 25, will be running to raise money for Julia’s House. Emily said: “Julia’s House does incredible work for families in the most tragic situations. No one expects to outlive their children but unfortunately this is reality for some families and Julia’s House helps them through these difficult and stressful times. It would be great to raise as much money as possible so they can continue their heroic work.”

4. Photographer Lee Collier, 42, from Blandford is hoping to break a world record (for the fastest time by a male mascot) dressed in a Paddington bear costume. He is raising money for children’s charity, Action Medical Research. Lee will need to beat the time of 3:17:57.

5. At the ripe age of 50, design engineer Chris Whitlock, from Yetminster said he was inspired to take on the challenge for charity Independent Age because of the work it does in supporting older people to live independently.

6.When Will Perringwood of Poole suffered a major bleed on the brain five years ago he was unable to walk or talk. However, after undergoing surgery he made an incredible recovery and he will be running to raise funds for Headway.

7. Nurse Mel Lovegrove, 35 from Poole said: "It will be my first marathon and I’m doing it to raise money for Poole Hospital Charity where I work as a staff nurse."

8. Leon Lima, 35 a PE teacher from Bournemouth is running for Cardiomyopathy UK to raise awareness of the cardiomyopathy condition that nearly cost his young son's life.

Luka who is now three, was misdiagnosed with bronchiolitis when it was heart failure. He was eventually diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy.

Leon works at Glenmoor and Winton Academies who who lost PE teacher Dan Ferris-Oates to cardiomyopathy last year.

9. Local youth footballing coach Mike Hansford is to run for Mosaic, the Dorset charity supporting bereaved children and their families.

The Dorchester Magpies Youth Coach said: “After turning 40 last year, I thought it was time to do some of the things I’d always wanted to do."

10. Mum Wendy Lucas, 68, and son Jez, 44, are running in memory of Wendy’s mum. It will be Jez's third marathon but Wendy's first. From the earliest days of television coverage they say they have dreamt of running London together. But from her early 20s, Wendy walked with a limp and was in constant pain. It wasn’t until eight years ago, after a total hip replacement at Bournemouth Hospital she could run anywhere.

Team Lucas has raised around £30,000 for charity during the last six years. They will be supporting St John Ambulance charity.

11. Luke Williams of Bournemouth is running to raise money for CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably), despite fracturing his hip less than a year ago and never having run more than 5k previously. Luke is raising funds in honour of his father who took his own life when Luke was 18.

12. Lee Wilson of Core Mullen, site manager of Parkfield School in Hurn, is running for children’s charity Tommy's - a cause close to his heart.

He said: “Tommy’s Charity funds research into stillbirth, premature birth and miscarriage. My first wife and I sadly lost two children who were born too early to survive, and we also suffered several miscarriages."

13. Pete Corbet, 59, who works for Dorset Police, is fundraising for St John Ambulance after witnessing the charity’s volunteers in action. It will be 35 years since he since the last time he took on the London Marathon.

14. CEO of Sunseeker, Phil Popham, will be running his first full marathon: “I'm extremely excited as I have been told the atmosphere is like no other. Last May I ran my first ever half marathon and raised £4,500 for Macmillan Cancer Support, I am hoping to beat my fundraising total and reach £5k. We were keen to work with a charity that could resonate with our employees and to date, Sunseeker employees have personally raised approximately £73,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support.”

15. Julia Hamer who works at BCHA (Bournemouth Churches Housing Association) will be running in aid of the organisation.