Sadness behind Louise's charity effort

WATH mum Louise Mycroft will be hiding tears of sorrow as she completes the Great North Run in South Shields this Sunday.

Little did she know when she filled in the application form that she would have her own powerful reasons to complete the iconic 13.1 mile half marathon—her birth mum Lyn Allen found out last week that she has inoperable ovarian cancer.

Louise, who has a son Fraser (13), was adopted as a baby and brought up by John and Audrey Fareham in Mexborough.

Her adoptive mum and dad have just celebrated their 80th birthdays and will be watching with Lyn on TV as their daughter crosses the Tyne Bridge with 50,000 other runners.

Louise traced her birth mum in 1993, and she moved back to the UK from Canada five years ago to be with her daughter and grandson.

"We thought we had all the time in the world so we didn't make the most of it," said Louise, as she prepared to head north for her gruelling challenge this week.

“Now that we only have months, we're going to make the most of every minute together.” Louise is raising money for Yorkshire Cancer Research. You can sponsor her online at www.justgiving.com/louise-mycroft0