A WATCHET man who ran the London Marathon to raise money in memory of his fiancée’s mother, who died of cancer, completed it in just over five hours – and raised £1,142.

Gary Coombes, who lives with his parter Jenny Norris and year-old daughter Chloe, decided to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support, which helped Jenny’s mother Joy Pegg when she was ill.

Joy, who owned the Tranmere Guest House in Minehead, died in 2014 aged 57.

“We’re extremely proud of Gary and we were all very emotional on the day,” said Jenny, who will be marrying him in July this year.

She and his parents went with him to London for support – and surprised him with a celebratory glass of champagne at sunset at the Shard.

Gary trained intensively for the marathon once his place was confirmed and raised the money through sponsorship and on the Justgiving website.

“Joy was an incredible lady who, after a brave fight ,was taken from Jen and her amazing family far to soon,” Gary said on the website page.

“I’m also running it for Jen. The way she has found the strength to pick herself up and carry on is inspiring, and makes running 26 miles to help families going through similar heartbreak the easiest choice I’ve ever made.”

Jenny is a district nurse and before that worked at Williton Hospital, and Gary works as an electrician.

The couple will be marrying at St Audries Church.