KEEPING a promise to a late friend will give one kind-hearted runner all the encouragement she needs to cross the finish line in the London Marathon.

Jenna Brown, 29, of Scunthorpe, is donning her running shoes to tackle 26 gruelling miles in memory of her friend Jennie Akers.

Jennie lost her battle with cervical cancer in November 2009, aged just 25.

She was diagnosed with the disease while pregnant with her third child.

Jenna said: "Jennie was a real inspiration to me.

"When she was extremely poorly, I promised her I would run the London marathon to help raise funds for Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust.

"She laughed at me and said I would never do it because at that time I could not even run around the block.

"I swore I would and that I will get across the finish line, whether I am running, walking or crawling by that point."

Jenna applied to run the London Marathon last year, but had to defer her entry because of a cartilage operation on her knee.

She said: "I was so upset when I had to pull out because of injury last year.

"Even though I have to put a lot of strapping on my knee and it still causes a lot of pain, I am determined to do it.

"It will be the biggest challenge of my life and it will be so emotional because I am doing it for Jennie.

"I just want to make her proud and help the charity so others don't have to go through what Jennie went through.

"It would be brilliant to raise £1,000 and people have been extremely generous already."

She has already had a £200 donation from Jennie's friends at The Sherpa pub in Scunthorpe.

Jenna said she is also taking inspiration from her brother who completed the marathon two years ago.

"My family and I went to support my brother when he completed it in just over three hours," she said.

"When I was there, I was amazed by the atmosphere and thought 'I really want to do this'.

"I am now a member of the Scunthorpe Running Club and other members have been so supportive.

"If it wasn't for them, I would never have put in the miles during the summer months.

"I am currently running about ten miles, but I am training really hard to extend this gradually before the event."

To sponsor Jenna, visit www.justgiving. com/jenna-brown0/