The runners and riders in capital’s two marathons

 
P34 22.02 Cycling Marathon riders Alan Sendorek, Sarah Lewis and Simon Brotherson. Alex Lentati
Matthew Beard22 February 2013

A Downing Street press officer, a PhD student and an advertising executive are hoping to become the first Londoners to complete a marathon double this summer.

They have won ballots for both the London Marathon on April 21 and the 100-mile RideLondon cycle race on August 4.

London’s inaugural mass bike ride, featuring 20,000 riders, will follow the course of last year’s Olympic road race through the capital and into Surrey.

Sarah Lewis, 26, a science PhD student from Barnes, said: “I watched the road race and afterwards rode the course. It was great fun so I decided to enter the ballot.”

Downing Street press officer Alan Sendorek, 30, from Kennington, said: “Work is full-on, but I fit in training around it and now and then I’ll have to stop mid-run to take a call.” He is raising funds for the Rwanda Cricket Stadium Foundation, a charity set up to create the country’s first cricket pitch.

Simon Brotherson, 48, an advertising executive from Kensal Rise, ran one of his three marathons on a treadmill in the garden of his local pub. “The more people drank the more generous they became,” he said.

He will raise funds for his goddaughter Carmen, nine, who has cerebral palsy, after being given his marathon place by the Footsteps charity which helps sufferers.

He said: “I might decide to do a combined fundraiser.”

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