Families from Finsbury Park ran an 85-lap relay race covering the marathon distance of 26.2 miles to raise money for the NHS on Sunday.

Islington Gazette: Corbdale Marathon. Picture: Sangita PatelCorbdale Marathon. Picture: Sangita Patel (Image: Archant)

The “Corbdale Marathon” saw neighbours aged seven to 50 from Corbyn Street and Thorpedale Road race around the block to raise money for NHS Charities Together.

They’ve already smashed their £1,000 target (raising £2,975 at the time of publication) and now hope to surpass their new target of £3,000 before the weekend.

Running a relay allowed them to observe social distancing guidance – and the race took part on what would have been London Marathon Day, which was cancelled due to the lockdown.

One of the organisers, Sangita Patel, told the Gazette: “We all get that we are very lucky to be where we are. We are lucky, we are safe. Are families are, broadly speaking, safe. And I think it’s an acknowledgement that we want to do something that feels useful. [...]

“This time last week the kids were chalking up the pavements with chalk and the page started to rack up sponsorship. The day before we were on £600 and then the day we ran it started to go mental. Lots of local people have sponsored us.”

Six families originally signed up for the event and 29 people took part on the day.

Their target was to complete the race in just under four hours but they managed to do it in three hours and 15 minutes.

Sangita, who has worked for the Premier League and on the 2012 Olympic Games in London, can now add the Corbdale Marathon to her CV.

She added: “It was a really nice community effort, everybody got involved in giving it a nice big push.”

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