A Morecambe woman who recovered from a life-threatening brain condition has smashed her fundraising target for next weekend's London Marathon.
Candice Gourlay was helped by the Morecambe Football Club girls team in a final push to achieve her £2,500 target for Brain Research UK.
Candice and the young footballers took part in a Fun Run on Morecambe Promenade on Sunday, raising £1237.24 towards the total.
The 35-year-old, who works for holiday company TUI, will take on the world's most famous marathon on Sunday April 23.
In 2012, Candice was diagnosed with Chiari Type 1 Malformation after years of suffering mystery headaches and crippling pain.
She had also developed Syringomyelia - a complication of Chiari causing a life-threatening blockage of her cerebrospinal fluid.
The only solution was to undergo decompression brain surgery in December 2012.
Since then Candice has gone on to make a full recovery and wants to give back by raising money for Brain Research UK.
"I am not the only one who has experienced suffering from a condition," she said.
"I know people who struggle daily with migraines, those who have suffered brain and spine injuries and are still trying to recover, all the way through to those we have lost to brain tumours.
"Brain Research UK fund work to reduce the impact of neurological conditions and save lives in the process."
Candice has raised £2525 at time of writing and you can still donate here.
She took up running a few years ago while living in Spain and since returning home, has done most of her training for the marathon with the Morecambe Community Runners (MCR).
Candice now helps MCR founder Stuart Nevin - who is also running the London Marathon - with their Couch to 5K groups for beginners.
She has also been through a course to become a qualified UK Athletics Run Leader.
Following Sunday's Fun Run, she said: "I can't thank everyone enough, I'm absolutely speechless, they all ran amazing today!
"A special shout out to Claire Moore who absolutely smashed it with this idea and everything she did for the run.
"Lastly, thank you to everyone who helped out and everyone who has donated to help raise this amazing amount."
Candice thanked all the Under 8s - Lola, Evie, Edie, Matilda, Florence, Iyla, Evelyn, Jemima and Daciana; as well as Jorgie from the Under 9s and Iris from the Under 10s; Adrian (Lola's dad) and Scott (Iris's dad) who ran with them, and Matilda (pictured below) who helped get donations through a bake sale, and a dads' football match (pictured below) also raised money for the charity.
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