A pair of Hatfield cousins finished the marathon in five hours with the thought of their family who have died from cancer at the forefront of their minds.

Andrew Simmons, 21, of South Hatfield, and Aaron Chandler, 24, have raised over £4,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

When Aaron, who teaches science at Onslow St Audrey’s, was six years old his mum was diagnosed with cervical cancer and fortunately survived and is free of it.

However, Aaron, lost his granddad to testicular cancer when he was 63.

The pair also lost their other granddad at 75 and their nan to cancer at 71.

Andrew said: “We ran the first two hours without stopping but it was tough in that heat and at one point I didn’t think I could do it.

“We had a heart-to-heart and after talking about the fact we were doing it for our family and for all the people who had donated we managed to complete it.”

• To donate visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/cancermaystartthefightbutwewillfinishit