Strathblane runner ready for London Marathon test in memory of beloved mum

Strathblane mum Mahri Love is ready to hit the pavements for this weekend’s London Marathon - after an over-eager spam folder almost cost her the chance of running in the big race.

It is set to be an emotional day for Mahri, who will be running for the Pancreatic Cancer Action charity in memory of her mum Linda Tawse, who passed away from the disease just over 15 years ago at the age of 56.

Since then, the disease has also claimed the lives of other people close to her, including husband Ken’s uncle John Tait - who died just a month after receiving his own diagnosis.

Mahri admits a pair of milestones were key in convincing her race to take on her second marathon - but explained the route to the start line for Sunday’s race was far from smooth.

She said: “I lost my mum in 2008 and sadly I think that the statistics on pancreatic cancer haven’t really improved much since then, people can often be diagnosed with a bleak prognosis.

“I did the Edinburgh Marathon previously and I vowed after that I would never do another because the training takes so much out of you, but I was chatting to a few colleagues at work after they had done the Paris one and then some ads for London popped up.

“One of them was for Pancreatic Cancer Action and after a glass of wine, I decided to just apply on a whim and then forgot about it because it is notoriously difficult to get a place in the race.

“A few months later, I got an email in my inbox telling me that if they didn’t hear by midday then they were going to offer my place and I realised I had been offered a spot, but all of the messages had landed in my spam folder.”

Mahri is keen to spread awareness of the killer disease, which is the deadliest of the ‘common cancers’ - with a five-year survival rate of 7.3 per cent.

With the big race looming, Mahri has launched an online fundraising page, smashing through her initial target of £3,500 to raise a whopping £4,162 at time of going to press.

Alongside husband Ken, Mahri will be joined by strong family contingent in London to cheer her on - including kids Grace, 7, and James, 4.

She has been cramming in training runs after work, taking on a very special commute between her work in Glasgow and Milngavie train station to prepare for Sunday’s punishing event.

To donate to Mahri’s marathon effort, you can visit her JustGiving page at justgiving.com/page/mahri-tawse-1704488152256.