Married Inverness church ministers aim to start and finish London Marathon together for Maggie’s Highlands cancer care charity
Two married ministers from Inverness are preparing to take part in the London Marathon on Sunday to raise funds for a Highland cancer care charity.
Rev James Bissett, minister for the Old High St Stephen’s congregation, and Rev Susan Cord, a chaplain at Raigmore Hospital, hope to start and finish the course together.
While their finish time has still to be determined, they have already smashed their fundraising target of £6000 for Maggie’s Highlands.
The couple are now hoping to push it up to £7500.
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Although it will be James’s fourth marathon, it will be Susan's first marathon and they hope to complete the course in under six hours 30 minutes.
James, who began running after taking up the Couch to 5k Challenge to improve his fitness during lockdown, began with a Virtual London Marathon in 2021, plotting out a route across the Contin and Strathpeffer parishes and raising funds for the Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH) in the process.
“I was the minister for Contin and Strathpeffer at the time and I did three services at three different churches along the route,” he said.
He took part in the real London event in 2022 when he ran in aid of Whizz-Kidz, which provides ergonomic wheelchairs and other aids to disabled children, and is looking forward to a return to the event alongside Susan.
“We are both excited for it,” said James who also did the York Marathon in 2023.
“Having done London, before, it’s got such an amazing atmosphere.
“People who do it in three hours are missing two hours of entertainment.
“There are 55,000 people taking part, which is just about the population of Inverness.
“It’s a huge, huge event and I would love to see the organisation at the back of that.
“For one thing, there are crash barriers along both sides of the course – where do you get 50 miles of crash barriers?
“I was in the back of the pack where you have all the costumes.
“There are people raising funds for illnesses in every part of the body – I got passed by a couple of ovaries!
“Then you have the London Fire Brigade, who usually have folk running in full gear. “People have picnics at the side of the course and the churches, when they come out, line the streets as well, and every mile or so you have a different band playing.
“We went through an LGBT area and there were drag queens putting on a show. It’s such a great day.”
The couple hope to start and finish together although James added: “If one of us does come in first, the other is not going to hear the end of it!”
Susan has raised funds previously for Maggie’s.
While a minister in Fife, she did a tandem parachute at 13,000 ft to support the building of Kirkcaldy Maggie's centre and she has also abseiled off the Forth Bridge to support of the Church of Scotland’s social care provider, CrossReach.
“In my hospital chaplain role, I suggest Maggie's to patients and their relatives for support on their cancer journeys,” she said.
“Often folks are nervous at the first visit, but describe walking through the doors and the welcome as ‘like a warm hug’."
The couple have set up a JustGiving page at revsrunlondon.
James thanked supporters for helping to reach the original target through donations, book sales and quiz nights at his own church and other congregations including Nairn Old and Culloden Barn Church, while the Good Craic Café in Inverness High Street hosted a special high tea fundraiser which brought in over £1000.
“So many people went above and beyond to raise money for us, and all of that money will go direct to Maggie’s,” he said.
“We have had a lot of good supporters. Every time we tell anyone we are doing something for Maggie’s people will say ‘I was there’ or a friend or family member was there. It’s a place that has touched so many people.”
