MARATHON veteran Andrea Stroud is running her third big race for a father figure whose life was cut short by a debilitating disease.

The Weymouth mother will take on the London Marathon challenge for the Motor Neurone Disease Association.

She wants to spread awareness about the illness, which claimed Ray Baker’s life four months after diagnosis in 2004.

Ray, from Weymouth, was the partner of Andrea’s mother Betty Hills.

Andrea said: “We were all very close to Ray. Motor neurone disease is a fatal illness that leaves people unable to walk, talk or feed themselves.

“You lose the ability to use your muscles and most patients eventually die of respiratory disease.

“I’m very keen to raise the profile of the charity and generate as much money and support as possible.”

Andrea’s sons Joshua, 13, and Jacob, 11, are supporting their mum by organising cake sales and fundraising ventures in school.

“Jacob is going to have a day’s sponsored silence in school to show his friends what it means not to be able to communicate.

“He asked me: ‘what am I going to do in PE?’ and I told him that people who have this disease have to get on and do everything without being able to communicate.

“Josh did a presentation last year for his year group and afterwards his classmates came up to him and wanted to know more about it,” Andrea said.

Speech therapist Andrea is hoping that her sponsorship money will go towards buying a light writer, which helps motor neurone disease sufferers to communicate through a keyboard-generated voice machine.

She has already raised £800 and plans to try and raise a total of £2,000.

Training is going well for Andrea, having prepared for the London Marathon in slightly different surroundings.

She said: “I did the New Forest Marathon recently and it seemed so quiet. There, you run past wild ponies whereas in London it’s completely elbow to elbow. But it’s such a good atmosphere.”

Andrea hopes that her fundraising efforts will be a fitting tribute to Ray.

“Ray was very much a gentleman. He was one of those people who knows so much about different things. He was a role-model for the kids,” she said.

Visit www.justgiving.com/andrea stroud2 to sponsor Andrea.