Nurse Natalie Jones is likely to receive encouragement from choruses of a legendary Monty Python song as she runs the London Marathon on Sunday dressed as a tin of Spam.

Mrs Jones, 40, from Yatton Keynell, near Chippenham, pledged to run the 26.2 mile course in a Spam costume if she received at least £1,000 in sponsorship for Dorothy House Hospice Care.

Her pledges are now more than £1,200 so she is committed to wearing the costume whatever the weather on Sunday.

She said: “I didn’t chose Spam for any specific reason beyond the fact it seems to make people laugh. I ran in the Bath Half wearing it a few weeks ago and I got lots of encouragement form people yelling ‘go on Spam’.”

The meat was made famous in a Monty Python sketch first aired in 1970 which included the song Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Lovely Spam, Wonderful Spam.

Mrs Jones, who is a nurse specialist for Dorothy House at Winsley, knows at first hand about the work done by the charity and its need to fundraise.

She said: “It is obviously something that is very important to me and this seemed like an ideal way for me to raise money to help.”

Mrs Jones will be cheered on in London by her husband Kevin and two sons James, 12, and Sam, eight. Mrs Jones, who grew up in Chippenham and was a pupil at Sheldon School, has run the London Marathon once before.

She said: “I don’t think the costume will slow me down too much unless it is very hot. In Bath it was a cold day and I ran it in 1hr 52mins, which was a personal best. I did London in four-and-a-half hours, 13 years ago.”

She hopes to be able to see her supporters in the crowd thanks to flags covered in tins of Spam that have been made by Corsham company Ripe Digital.

Other runners raising money for Dorothy House include Tracy Thompson from Calne who is running in memory of her dad, Barry Parsons.

She said: “I took up running following my father’s diagnosis with bladder cancer in 2011. For me running was a way of dealing with his illness, to escape and reflect.

"I turned 40 in February, and I knew I wanted to use my 40th birthday celebrations to raise money.

“The thing that will keep me going is reflecting on the fond memories I have of the week my dad spent at Dorothy House Hospice because, in just a matter of days, he was back to his old self, the dad I knew and loved – smiling and joking around.

"It’s this memory of my dad that I remember and will do so on marathon day.”

Also on the start line will be Lucy Burley, from Neston, who is an occupational therapist at Dorothy House. This is the third time she has tried to get a place in the London Marathon.

She said “As an occupational therapist working at Dorothy House I can see what a difference the hospice makes to patients and their families.

"The patients I meet have kept me going when it's got tough, running long distances in training.”