George running London Marathon for his ‘superhero’ mum

Mr Orton, 26, said it was where he lived that motivated him.

‘I’ve lived in London for about three years and the marathon used to run past where my girlfriend and I used to live.

‘It’s taken me seeing it a couple of times and a bit of FOMO [fear of missing out]. I wouldn’t say it was always a goal of mine.’

To limit numbers, the organisers hold a ballot every year and each time about 17,000 entrants are accepted.

Mr Orton said he had work colleagues who had entered the ballot several times previously and been unsuccessful.

‘I found out in June last year that I’d got in,’ he said.

But two months later he heard the bad news that his mother Sue had been diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time, about 10 years after her first diagnosis.

‘It was a big shock,’ he said.

‘It was getting to the point where we had all but forgotten that it had even happened.’

She has since undergone successful surgery and chemotherapy and is waiting for radiotherapy to conclude her treatment.

‘She’s a superhero. She’s stayed positive throughout. She’s not really let her chin drop at all.’

Her family had been by her side all the way, he said, in particular his father, Tim: ‘He’s been a superhero, too.’

Building up to the marathon, Mr Orton has been running around London and said it was a good way to learn different areas.

He has had to build up distance gradually, largely due to problems with his knees which he has had for several years – a condition called patella maltracking.

‘Most people train for 16 weeks before the marathon but I’ve been training since November.’

Now his distances are starting to taper off.

‘It’s where you’re running the same amount but less and less distance so you keep yourself as fresh as you can.

‘My long runs are getting shorter and shorter until the big day.’

Mr Orton’s JustGiving page is here.