A mother and daughter from Borehamwood are heading to the United States to run a marathon in aid of a cancer charity.

Anne Felstead, 63, of Well End, and her daughter Justine Felstead, 40, will take part in the Chicago marathon on Sunday as part of a fundraising effort for the Bowel Cancer UK charity.

They chose the Chicago marathon because it is a globally recognised race and the majority of the course is flat.

There is no qualifying time to participate in the 26-mile run but only those finishing within six and a half hours are officially timed.

Mrs Felstead said: "We're not really aiming for certain times, we're just trying to make sure we get round. It's hard work and you have to run at your own pace, so no doubt Justine will be miles ahead of me."

The mother and daughter have been training for around 16 weeks, usually running four or five times a week and completing long runs at weekends.

Miss Felstead said: "We've done 13 miles in one go before, probably more. The training can be quite time consuming - it's rather taken over our lives."

Mrs Felstead decided to take on the fundraising challenge after suffering from bowel cancer in 2005. She said that aside from raising money, she wanted to raise awareness of the disease.

She said: "Bowel cancer doesn't have the same press coverage or high profile image as breast cancer and generally it's not something people talk about. You might not know you have bowel cancer until it's too late. I was lucky - I was diagnosed and operated on within ten days. Barnet Hospital was great and I had an absolutely delightful doctor."

She added that, despite her positive experience, bowel cancer can often go unnoticed or be misdiagnosed and she stressed the importance of getting regular checks and knowing what symptoms to look out for.

The Felsteads have so far raised around £1,000 for the charity. To sponsor them visit www.justgiving.com/anneandjustine.