When brothers Jon and Marc Lewthwaite pound the streets of London today their minds will be on their friend Ben Osborne who lost his life in 2014.

The brothers are part of a team running the Virgin London Marathon for Carlisle Eden Mind.

They, along with three others, make up the Heads Together team.

Heads Together aims to change the national conversation on mental wellbeing and is a partnership between a number of mental health charities, including Mind.

They hope to raise £10,000 for the charity.

Speaking before the race, Jon, who is manager of Appleby Leisure Centre, said: "We had no idea Ben was suffering. It was a big shock and it’s been tough.

"He was a good friend and if I can raise awareness and help just one person then I will.

"I try to fundraise to help Carlisle Eden Mind. I organise a football tournament every year. It’s kind of a legacy to him."

Jon and Marc will travel to London by car today to take part in the 26.2 mile run.

Jon, of Penrith, said: "This will be the first time that I’ve done a marathon. I’ve done half marathons before but never this far.

"It’s come at a busy time for me as I’ve just moved house. The furthest I’ve run is 23 miles and in the last few days I’ve done a 40 minute run, a 20 minute run and a 10 minute run.

"I’m hoping to finish in about four and a half hours. It will be a real personal achievement.

“I’m hoping the weather stays overcast and grey and not too sunny. If it’s 9 or 10C and dull it will be fine. If’s it’s 14-15C and sunny it might be a bit more difficult.

"My wife and daughter will be tracking me on an app and watching the TV to see if they can spot me.

"We were planning on coming back tomorrow night but we’ve been persuaded to stay over for a bit of a rest. We’ll head home on Monday morning.”

Jon hopes to meet up with some of the other Carlisle Eden Mind runners tonight.

"The idea is to have a quick catch up and a drink and find out how everyone got on,” he said.

Caroline Robinson, community engagement officer for Carlisle Eden Mind said: "We’re thrilled to have had such a response from the community to support our Suicide Prevention work in Cumbria.

"Thanks to Public Health we’ve managed to train over 3,500 people in some level of suicide prevention so far, but with an average of one Cumbrian resident a week being lost to suicide, we need to help even more people feel comfortable and confident in talking about suicide."

The team includes Jon and Marc, Justine Carruthers, Tracey Graham and Juliet Gray.

The fundraising page is: www.virginmoneygiving.com/team/carlisleedenmind

People can also support Jon by texting JONL17£5 to 70070.

*Don't miss Monday's News & Star to find out how our Cumbrian runners - including 100 marathon man Gary Mckee - fared