The Countryside Alliance Foundation London Marathon team eyes the start line with three weeks to go

There are now just three weeks to the Virgin Money London Marathon on 23 April and our intrepid six-strong team are raring for the off.

They are all raising money for our TCAF charities – Fishing 4 Schools, Casting for Recovery and Falconry for Schools. You can sponsor each of them through JustGiving by following the links below.

Meet the team

• Evelyn Armstrong: Evelyn, 31, is a farmer's wife and part-time clerk at Leyburn auction mart in North Yorkshire. The mother-of-two was a professional whipper-in to the Hurworth hunt and started her training for the Marathon by leaving her horse at home and running with the Hurworth over the past season. She hopes to complete this, her first marathon, in less than four hours. Sponsor Evelyn here






• Ed Carter: Gamekeeper Ed has been training by running in the grounds of the Blenheim Palace Estate where he works. He says he's on track for a 3hrs 45mins finish but the most important thing is to better the time set by his girlfriend Phoebe Burns, who completed the Marathon for us last year, in 4hrs 44mins. He and his friends were also out shaking buckets at his local point-to-point last weekend, to boost his fundraising efforts. Sponsor Ed here


• Charles Jardine: The 64-year-old founder and director of our Fishing 4 Schools initiative has completed the London Marathon twice before for the cause but is training harder than ever before for this event – with extreme yoga, outings with two local running clubs, gym workouts and much more now a part of his life. He's now so fit his 11-year-old Labrador, Midge, cannot keep up. Sponsor Charles here






• Edmund Shillabeer: "Edbanger", as he is known, has been a vet for more than 50 years and competes internationally in racewalking. Aged 77, he claims to be the fittest vet in town, not having missed a day's work since setting up his practice in Plymouth in 1970. He is a member of Ilford Athletic Club and this will be his second London Marathon. He previously competed in 1997, just 90 days after a car accident that almost claimed his life. Sponsor Edmund here


• Diana Stevens: Forty-six-year-old Tetcott hunt stalwart Di beat breast cancer five years ago, so decided to run the Marathon for our Casting for Recovery charity in celebration. She suffered a little setback to her training when she fell out of the jockey door of her horse trailer and injured her knees, but ran the Bideford Half Marathon on 5 March in 2hrs 25mins, so feels she's back on track. She has a load of fund-raising activities planned, including Easter bingo and a Sunday lunch and is baking and selling cakes to local businesses. Sponsor Di here


• Josh Woolley: Josh, 27, was due to run the London Marathon for TCAF in 2015 and had to pull out after an injury. But this year he's bang on target, completing the Silverston Half Marathon on 12 March in less than two hours. Josh is an amateur polo player and Cheshire hunt regular and works in London as a commercial surveyor for Knight Frank. Sponsor Josh here