Two brothers are running the London Marathon to keep the names of school friends who died unexpectedly "in lights."
Mat (33) and Kevin (30) McSwiggan are embarking on the 26-mile run on April 25 in honour of popular city residents Jonny Bickers and Amjad Ali.
It is their first ever long-distance run and their target is to complete the race in under four hours and raise at least £1,600 for charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY), which raises awareness of Sudden Death Syndrome and supports affected families.
SDS – an undetected heart defect which kills apparently fit and healthy people without warning – claimed the lives of Mr Bickers and Amjad Ali, who were friends of Mat and Kevin, who now lives in Luton.
Mat, who currently lives in Birmingham but returns to Peterborough to visit his parents in The Dell, Woodston, said: "I always wanted to keep Jonny and Ali's name in the lights so that people will remember them. I have come to terms with both of their deaths but I wanted to do something in memory of them."
Jonny Bickers died aged 30 in May 2006. Mat had known the dad-of-two since they both went to Brewster Avenue Infant School and later, St John Fisher High School.
Jonny was a fit and active goalkeeper for various football teams including March Town, Bretton Albion, Whittlesey and Peterborough City.
Mat said: "He was very well-known as a goalkeeper and had a big social network of friends. When he passed away his funeral was huge.
"He was very well loved. He was full of life and full of beans."
Amjad Ali died aged 32 in December 2008 and used to work at a mobile phone shop in the city centre.
Father-of-two Mat, an insurance worker said: "He was very well known in the Asian community. If anyone had any issues with mobile phones then he'd be the first person they would go to. He was so friendly. He had the heart of a teenager – he never grew up."
Mat said he was keen to support SDS because it runs road shows where people can be tested for heart defects – potentially saving lives.
He said: "The defect is quite hard to detect but if they find a problem at least people are warned so they can get something done about it."
He said training is going well for the marathon and he has been spurred on by his four-year-old daughter Siena, who accompanies him on some training runs, while his 10-month-old boy Shae stays at home.
Mat added: "She understands what I'm doing and she says, 'Daddy's running now because it's about Jonny being in heaven.' So she's behind us."
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