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Reporter clocks up mileage for London Marathon

A daily newspaper journalist has been busy pounding the streets of Leeds in preparation for the London Marathon in April.

Mark Casci, 31, rural affairs correspondent at the Yorkshire Post and a former news editor at The Press, is running the 26.2 mile course to raise money for St George’s Crypt, a homeless charity in Leeds.

Said Mark: “St George’s Crypt is legendary in Leeds for its fantastic and laudable work with the city’s most vulnerable.

“When I got a place on this year’s marathon I wanted to do it on behalf of a charity that was both local to Leeds and that really made a difference.

“St George’s Crypt could not fit the bill more – those who work and volunteer there are genuinely inspirational, even to jaded hacks like myself.

“Training is going very well and I am looking forward to the big day.”

Mark, who has run one marathon and a number of half-marathons before, hopes to finish in around four hours.

St George’s Crypt provides care, support and shelter for homeless, rootless and disadvantaged people from Leeds and the surrounding areas.

To sponsor Mark log onto www.justgiving.com/mark-casc.

Also taking part in the run will be Lyndsay Young, a former reporter on the Southport Visiter, who will run on behalf of homeless charity Shelter, and former Henley Standard reporter Nick Edmondson who will be running in aid of Amnesty International.

Lyndsay, 30, who now works as a communications officer for Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, aims to raise £1,600, and has already raised £1,000 through fundraisers including a skate-a-thon.

Said Lyndsay: “I’m sure the thought of the amount of money I’ll have raised for Shelter will keep me going on the day.

“I wanted to raise money for Shelter because I think homelessness is not something anyone should have to go through and this is just my small way of helping the charity.”

Nick, 26, who ran the Henley half marathon in 2010 and the Henley Standard 10k last year and now works in London, said: “I worked hard to get into shape for the half marathon and thought why not take advantage of that and keep pushing on to the marathon distance?

“While working at the Standard I wrote several articles about marathon runners and was inspired by the number of people in the Henley area who took on the challenge and raised money for charity.”

To sponsor Lyndsay, visit http://www.justgiving.com/Lyndsay-Young, and to sponsor Nick log on to www.justgiving.com.nick-edmo-runs.