A DUNFERMLINE man is gearing up to run the Edinburgh Half Marathon to raise funds for Macmillan.

James Fox, 56, from Kennedy Crescent, is running 13.1 miles next month in honour of three of his friends, Kevin Minogue, Mark Duffy and Nicola Anderson, who sadly died of cancer.

He told the Press: "I've raised a few thousand pounds for cancer research a few years ago for carrying a bag of coal across the Forth Road Bridge twice and I've been wanting to test myself a wee bit more. I do the Parkrun every week, but I want to test myself a wee bit more and do it for a good cause as well so that's why I wanted to do the Edinburgh Half Marathon.

Dunfermline Press: James wearing a t-shirt with the pictures of two of his friends who have passed away from cancer.James wearing a t-shirt with the pictures of two of his friends who have passed away from cancer. (Image: Contributed)

"I've lost a few friends from cancer. I can't bring them back, but I try and raise funds to try and find a cure for it. I used to go and watch my mate, every week, lying in his hospital bed and I couldn't do anything about it.

"There was a lot of tears, a lot of laughter as well, but a lot of tears and I couldn't do anything about the pain that he was going through."

James, who keeps active and is always keen to help out a friend in need, has taken part in various coal runs, including those in Kelty. He recently came in sixth place in the veterans category of the World Coal Carrying Championships in Gawthorpe.

He also does the weekly Parkrun in Dunfermline and runs his own free bootcamp, the Team Foxy Bootcamp, which focuses on people coming out and having fun while getting fit both mentally and physically.

"It's not for any financial gain whatsoever, it's for people coming out and feeling good about themselves, a lot of people cannae afford to go to the gym and I know the hardest part is usually coming out the door," he said. "Once you're out the door, we have a great laugh."

He will be using all of this as training for the half marathon, which is in six weeks’ time. So far, he has raised £274, but he is hoping to get many donations for Macmillan.

He added: "I just put a total goal of £300 as that was the minimum that Macmillan was allowing me to raise. I've got six weeks and I'll just keep pushing it but I know it's quite hard for people, and money is scarce for a lot of people right now."

To support James, you can donate on his JustGiving page.