Two brothers from Wandsworth are running in today’s London Marathon (October 3) in memory of their mum who sadly died after a brain tumour diagnosis.

Oscar Kirby-Hogarty (29), of Earlsfield near Clapham, and his brother Tobi (27), of Battersea, smashed their £10,000 fundraising target, so far raising over £13,000 for Brain Tumour Research.

The pair have supported the charity since their mum Lesley Kirby-Klappholz was diagnosed with a brain tumour back in 2019.

After a career in education spanning almost four decades, Lesley retired from her job as a headteacher shortly before being diagnosed with a grade 4 glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), an aggressive and fast-growing form of brain cancer.

Lesley, who was “adored” by her two sons, sadly died at the age of 63.

“The idea of running a marathon is something that always appealed to me but in all honesty, I never really liked running, but when Mum was diagnosed as terminal I thought we needed something positive to focus on because people often go one of two ways in that situation, so I said let’s get signed up,” Oscar said.

He added: “She was pragmatic and her pragmatism lives on in me and my brother. It’s very easy to take a negative and build a negative cycle but it’s more difficult to build a positive one and I think we’ve done that as much as we can.”

The Earlsfield man said the he and Tobi were racing on Sunday in memory of their mum and all the work she did to help others during her life.

 “It is 100 per cent a doff of our caps to our mum who would have dreamt of nothing worse than running a marathon but is a living testament that hard work trumps everything. Our mum was a caring, emphatic person who would have been exceptionally proud that she could make such a difference to the world, or a further one to when she lived,” Oscar said.

Click here to view the brothers’ fundraiser for Brain Tumour Research