Dr Philip Clayton, his wife, Sharon, and their four sons have all entered to run in the Great North Run this Sunday, September 10th. The world’s largest half marathon covers 13.1 miles running from Newcastle to South Shields.

The route takes runners through the city centre towards the River Tyne where thousands of people will cross over the iconic Tyne Bridge. From there runners will travel through Gateshead then onto to South Shields. After this there is just over a mile as runners make their way down the final straight towards the finish line.

Each member of the Clayton family is running for a different charity, attempting to raise money for six different good causes. Philip for Pancreatic cancer, Sharon for MIND, Ben (not in picture) for Motor Neurone Disease, Oli for Oxfam, Hamish for WWF and Ryan for Dogs Trust.

There is a degree of anxiety as to whether they have trained hard enough, though they are all determined to try to keep up with Mo Farah and certainly cross the finish line this Sunday.

Any donations would be very gratefully received either through Alton Street Surgery, Ross-on-Wye or online via their Justgiving page www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/claytonfamily