When Simon Aldridge runs the London Marathon at the end of April he won’t be short of people cheering him on.

To be fair, none of the 40,000-plus runners will because the 26.2-mile course is lined with people supporting those brave enough to take on one of sport’s tougher challenges.

But for Simon there will be one family in particular whose cheers will mean just that little bit more, as he attempts to run a marathon for the very first time.

They are the Dickson family, and 14-year-old John is the main reason why Simon is taking part in the race on Sunday 22nd April.

John has muscular dystrophy and all the money that Simon raises from running around the capital’s streets will go to Muscular Dystrophy UK, to help towards the search for a treatment and ultimately a cure for the muscle wasting disease.

Simon has helped raise money for Cotswold School pupil John before and describes him as “a lovely lad”.

He and many supportive locals were recently involved in a big auction of promises fundraising evening organised by his parents, that raised £20,000 for a new wheelchair for John.

“It's a very hi-tech wheelchair, an all-terrain super-duper thing that allows him to go off road and around the playing fields with his mates,” said Simon.

“He’s football mad, plays wheelchair football every week and often goes to watch Bristol City with his dad.

“We’ve known John and his parents – Angela and Paul – since they moved into the house opposite ours in Bledington 10 years ago and became firm friends.

“They are super people, and selflessly supported my wife Lizzie and I when I had a serious car crash and broke four vertebrae in my neck in 2012.”

“They also organised a local 10K run in 2010 – it started in Bledington, went through Kingham, past Daylesford and back into the village – and all the money raised went to muscular dystrophy.”

Simon took part in that event and while any run is a challenge, it’s fair to say that the London Marathon is the toughest road test he has yet faced.

“I entered the ballot but was half hoping I wouldn’t get picked,” chuckled Simon, “but then the Dicksons suggested I could run it through muscular dystrophy.”

He’ll be 59 when he goes to the start line in Blackheath, and a half marathon is the furthest he has ever run competitively.

Not that Simon is a novice runner by any means although he admits he is unlikely to run the London again.

“I run with the Bledington Bantams,” he said. “We’re an informal running club and we’ve been going for about two years. There’s usually up to 10 of us and we’ll run a 5K or 10K on Saturday mornings.”

So how did the club come about?

“We’d all been running independently around the village and the surrounding area, and we thought it was high time we started running together,” Simon explained. “The club was founded in the King’s Head in Bledington by Simon Algar and Steve Tyack.”

Simon, whose dad was a farm manager in Wiltshire, developed a taste for running when he was a pupil at Marlborough Grammar School, and it is a hobby he has continued to enjoy in his adult years.

The software engineer, who has one grown-up daughter Emily, says he plans to keep on running “for as long as my knees hold up”.

He has run the Town and Gown 10K in Oxford three times and also likes the Oxford Half, recording his fastest ever time over the distance as recently as November.

“I ran two hours, one minute,” he said, “but that was frustrating because I missed breaking two hours by just a minute.”

So what is he hoping for in London?

“I’m just looking to finish,” he chuckled, “it’s a long way. I’m hoping to run four-and-a-half to five hours. I’m really looking forward to the atmosphere.

“I’ve been told that Tower Bridge will blow me away with all the noise from the spectators.”

And what are his concerns?

“My biggest fear is not getting to the start line,” he said. “Having done all the hard work training and having raised so much money, to pick up an injury and not be able to run would be tragic.”

Simon Aldridge certainly deserves better luck than that.