A DENTIST who loves to run is celebrating an upcoming milestone of 20 years at a dental practice by once again taking part in the London Marathon.

Richard Parker, who practices at Diamond Smiles Dental Centre, Barnoldswick, is currently training for the race which takes place on October 2 to raise money for Pendleside Hospice. Part of that training is his taking part in the Great North Run on September 11as an official pacer and is looking for a time of two hours 15 minutes.

He said: "It's always been an ambition of mine to pace the greatest half marathon in the world and I'm so excited to have been given the chance. It will be a great warm up for London. I graduated from Newcastle University in 1988 having competed in my first Great North Run in 1987. Running in the North East feels like returning home and running amongst friends.

Richard says his London Marathon run in support of the Brierfield hospice is a way of marking his career milestone at Diamond Smiles which also occurs in October.

He said: "I have met so many patients and their families over the years who have been supported by the wonderful team at Pendleside. It is a real honour to be running for them and to give something back to such a great place.

"They rely so heavily on public donations and the last few years have been particularly hard for raising funds. It will be my second London Marathon having previously run in 2019 when I finished with Big Ben who got stuck on the finish line which meant I had a cameo appearance on various news channels.

"Training is going well although the recent warm weather has been tough, I'm a regular park runner at Skipton and it's such a great start to the weekend. The volunteers who make it happen are brilliant."

Richard added that on Saturday, September 3 and in support of fundraising for Pendleside Hospice, there is to be a coffee morning and 'Big Bake Sale' at Thornton in Craven village hall which is taking place from10 am until 2pm. He said everyone is welcome to go along and that cake donations will be appreciated.

The event includes a raffle and tombola and prizes for the best showstoppers.

Anyone wishing to donate to Richard's fundraising page, where he is over halfway towards his £2,000 total, can do so at: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/richard-parker2022