Top competitor Fiona Carter will be running for fun at this year’s London Marathon.

The 52-year-old is a very decent athlete – she’s represented Great Britain in age group duathlon – but on Sunday 2^nd October she’ll be running the 26.2 miles around the streets of London dressed as a pom-pom girl!

And it’s certainly for a very good cause because she’s raising funds for her sporting charity CASS & Friends.

But why a pom-pom girl?

“I got Covid in June which meant that the volume and intensity of my training has been seriously hampered,” she said.

“My goal for the race is no longer achievable so I have found another goal.

“While I was lying in bed with Covid, I googled world records and lo and behold the world record for a female cheerleader for the marathon is three hours, 27 minutes – I think this could be achievable!”

It certainly is because Fiona is a pretty experienced marathon runner and has competed in the London Marathon before, albeit the last time was in the early 1990s.

“The last time I ran the London Marathon was about 30 years ago,” she explained. “I had a charity entry for Whizz Kids so I raised the necessary amount of money and happily went off to run the race.

“This year I have a World Championship entry as part of the Abbott Marathon Majors Age Group World Championships.”

Her best marathon time is two hours, 57, and before her illness she was targeting 2.55 at this year’s London marathon, but now, instead of chasing a PB, she’ll be running in fancy dress.

“I will be shaking pom-poms all the way round and hopefully at the same time raising a little money for the charity and awareness for what the charity is trying to achieve,” she said.

“I’m not setting myself any goal in terms of how much I raise, it will just be lovely to have this new purpose for marathon day and it will be a lot of fun too.”

And while Covid has obviously knocked Fiona back, she’s still been in very good form, completing the Cheltenham Half Marathon earlier this month in a very impressive one hour, 23 minutes, 48 seconds.

She finished 43^rd overall in the 1,500-plus field and second woman while her time was exactly four minutes faster than when she last ran the Cheltenham Half in 2019.

She’s understandably proud of that, as she is of CASS & Friends which she describes with some understatement as “my very small grassroots charity”, adding, “in a nutshell we are a mini SportsAid, providing financial grants to our athletes and delivering a one-to-one eight-week sporting success mindset programme.”

Anyone wishing to support Fiona in her London Marathon run can visit https://localgiving.org/appeal/Fi_London_Marathon/