Sister and former coach of Bourne cyclist Tim James to run London Marathon in his memory for Young Lives vs Cancer

The sister and coach of a talented young cyclist are to run the London Marathon on Sunday to raise money in his memory.

Bourne rider Tim James was on the brink of a professional career when he fell ill with a rare form of cancer and died in May last year, aged just 23.

His sister Georgie is to run the world’s biggest marathon for the second year running, having raised more than £5,500 for Cancer Research UK last October.

And this year she will be joined by Bourne Wheelers coach Mark Botteley who helped Tim take his first steps into amateur cycling with his hometown club.

They will be running for the Young Lives vs Cancer charity which supported Tim and his family throughout his illness.

It has been about 15 years since Mark last took on a marathon and 19 years since he ran the London Marathon.

“I always wanted to do it again so this seemed the right thing at the right time,” Mark said.

“It feels good to do things in his name and his memory.

“Tim was a sportsman so he would definitely appreciate the training that goes into this.”

He added: “There isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t think about him.

“Whenever he came back to Bourne he would come around for tea and cake. There has always been a strong bond between us.”

Georgie clocked an impressive time of 3hr 32min last year and is on track to emulate that despite picking up a slight niggle in training.

And Mark is hoping to go under three-and-a-half hours despite feeling the effects of a three-day 260-mile charity bike ride last weekend.

“My legs were a little sore after that, but I think we are all good to go and, fingers crossed, we will get to the finish line.”

Mark is planning to dye his hair ginger for the occasion, in tribute to Tim, and have a message stencilled into his hair.

“I will probably look like a bit of an idiot, but if it’s something else that helps there is reason enough to do it,” he said.

Georgie helped Mark organise the inaugural Timmy James Memorial Road Race in March which raised £3,000.

Combining this with their marathon fundraising, their tally this year is closing in on £5,000 for the cancer charity.

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“When you see what happened to Tim you just want to help,” Mark added.

“The charity was absolutely fantastic in the last couple of months of Tim’s life.

“It must have been horrible for Tim and his family and the support it provided was unbelievable.”