By Kelly Eve

Last updated 14:16, Monday, 06 October 2008

Cumbrian runners are nursing aching limbs today after completing the BUPA Great North Run yesterday.

Determined:Competitors make their way across the Tyne Bridge in Newcastle at yesterday’s event

It was a family affair for many as they teamed up with relatives to complete the gruelling 13.1-mile course from Newcastle to South Shields.

First-time runner Janine Lawson, 31, of Crosby, near Maryport, got round in 2hrs 41 minutes, a magnificent feat for someone who could not run for more than a minute at the start of the year.

Her 30-year-old sister-in-law Collette Thwaites, of Sheila Fell Close, Aspatria, made it round in 2hrs 7mins, four minutes faster than her debut last year.

The pair, who are both nurses, ran with Janine’s friend Alaina Kennedy, 34, of Harraby, Carlisle. Janine and Alaina are both midwives at the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle. Janine has raised £450 for bowel cancer and Alaina was running in aid of Cancer Research.

Meanwhile Collette is an NHS home health carer and a member of Hospice at Home West Cumbria, the charity for which she raised £600 by yesterday completing the world’s biggest half marathon.

Collette said: “The atmosphere during the run was electric, it was really good.

“It was a great day that is supported well by all the locals, they come out to cheer you on.”

Jan Spencer and her 21-year-old daughter Faye Stubbs, of Great Orton, completed yesterday’s course in two-and-a-half hours and are now looking ahead to doing the Cumbrian Run later this month.

They ran in memory of Carlisle woman Kelly Gourlay, 24, who died in June after a car crash on the A69. An old school friend of Faye’s, Phil Johnstone from Carlisle, also agreed to run in memory of Kelly and together they have so far raised around £1,500.

The cash will be split equally between Hospice at Home and the Great North Air Ambulance.

Faye said: “We want to say a big thank-you to everyone who has supported us. We set up a Facebook page and we’ve had huge support from it.

“The run was very hot, they weren’t the best conditions for running but the atmosphere was brilliant. People were handing us drinks and ice-pops to keep us going. We really enjoyed it.”

Cockermouth School reception supervisor Sam Courtier, 40, ran the course dressed as a fairy in a pink tutu and has raised hundreds of pounds for West Cumbria Rape Crisis. Her father Terry Bailey was running with her in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital.

She said: “I’m knackered and there’ll be no high heels for me at school on Monday. My dad stuck by me all the way. The crowd was fabulous too.”

Carlisle law student Megan McColgan, 19, was also among the 52,000 runners. She was looking to raise about £400 for Leukaemia CARE.

Detective Constable Sarah Simpson was running to raise cash for the St Mary’s Church roof appeal in Wigton. She sits on the parochial church council and has been a member of the congregation all her life.