FRIENDS Lydia Keeley and Holly Matthews smashed their fundraising target for Cancer Research UK with their spur of the moment marathon.

The 15-year-olds decided out of the blue that they wanted to do a walking marathon around the country lanes, despite no training and having no walking boots.

They were not daunted by the bad weather, and set off at 8.15am on their challenge, which they completed in nine hours 22 minutes.

Knutsford Guardian:

The friends during their challenge

They were aiming to raise £100, but their efforts caught the imagination of friends and family, and so far they have raised almost £1,200 including Gift Aid.

Lydia lives in High Legh, and Holly is from Lymm, and both girls attend Lymm High School.

Lydia’s mum Nicola said: “They announced one evening that they planned to walk a marathon ‘on Saturday’.

“Without wanting to squash their enthusiasm, both sets of parents said that walking a marathon without any training whatsoever and without any walking boots was perhaps a little ambitious.

“However the girls would not be dissuaded, and were determined to prove us all wrong.

“So they set off on a very rainy Saturday on July 18. Their route took them to Knutsford, around the country lanes of High Legh and Lymm and ended 26.2 miles and nine hours 22 minutes later in Grappenhall.

“They had lots of fun along the way despite of the weather - it rained all day - but admitted to the last three or four miles being tough.

“However, the constant text updates to tell them how much money they were raising for Cancer Research kept them going.

“Both families are immensely proud of their determination and achievement.

“They definitely showed their parents that you can do anything if you want to enough.”

Knutsford Guardian:

The friends celebrate their marathon success

If you wish to donate you can do so at justgiving.com/fundraising/Nicola-Keeley2

Lydia and Holly said: “We decided we wanted to do something different, and after seeing a tik tok video decided we would walk a marathon – no training or walking boots – we’d just go for it.

“We thought that we would raise some money for a good cause while we were doing it.”

Cancer Research UK is making difficult decisions to significantly reduce how much it spends on beating cancer, its operations and the number of staff following an anticipated £300 million drop in fundraising income over the next three years, including £160 million this year, because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.