A woman has raised more than £3,000 for cancer support charity Macmillan in memory of her mum and aunt by running a marathon.

Sarah Donohoe, 29, from Clayton-le-Moors, has raised £3,300 so far for the Hyndburn branch of Macmillan Cancer Support after running the London Marathon.

Sarah’s mum Barbara was chair of the Hyndburn Macmillan Committee and had been raising funds for them for two decades after losing her sister Marie to breast cancer aged just 34.

With an original target of £1,500, Sarah was overwhelmed with the donations and thanked ‘everyone’s generosity’ on her JustGiving page.

A member of Accrington Running club, she managed to complete the gruelling 26.2 miles, which took place at the end of last month, in four hours and five minutes, without even hitting the dreaded ‘wall’.

She said: “I think it went as well as it could have – it only took three days to be able to walk up and down stairs facing forwards again!”

Sarah’s dad Jim Donohoe is also a devoted fundraiser and has in the past run the London Marathon and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to boost Macmillan’s funds.

Sarah said Macmillan gave her fantastic support, providing a pre-race pasta party and a recovery centre after the finish line, where she received congratulations, food, massages and a personal thank you from the charity’s national chair man. She said: “It was amazing, they couldn’t have done anything more.”

A prolific fundraiser, Barbara sadly faced her own battle with a rare form of eye cancer and passed away five years ago, aged 60.

Sarah and the rest of her family continue to fundraise for the charity in her mum’s and sister’s honour.

Sarah’s aunt Jeanette Parkes, sister to Barbara and Marie, said she was incredibly proud of her niece. Jeanette, like the rest of her family, is an avid fundraiser and has helped raise around £500,000 for charity in their honour.

She said: “We do it to keep their memory alive.”

Jeanette and her daughter are set to brave the Great Manchester Swim on July 4.

To donate to Sarah’s page, visit justgiving.com/sarah-donohoe1/