DARREN Phillips is going to be lacing up his running shoes for the fourth time to run the Edinburgh Marathon in memory of his sister Michelle who died in a car crash aged 26.

The 45-year-old of Wellesley Close, Bowerhill, is hoping to raise as much as possible for Wiltshire Air Ambulance to add to the £13,000 his parents John and Sandra and brother Darrel, family and friends have helped raise since Miss Phillips died eleven years ago.

The donations have already come flooding in and he has raised nearly £400, more than double the target of £200 he initially set himself.

Mr Phillips and his friend will be running more than 26 miles on May 31 with his two sons Ben and Jamie and wife Annabel spurring him on and waiting for him at the finish line with his parents.

He said: “I just want to raise as much money as possible, they are a great charity and rely on donations and don’t get any grants.

“This is my fourth time running it and I’ve done more training this year than before. I am hoping to beat my time of 4 hours and 30.”

Miss Phillips, a former George Ward School pupil from Melksham, died in a three-car accident in Devon on Good Friday, 2004.

She had worked behind the bar at The White Hard pub in Atworth and Hargreaves Sports in The Shires shopping centre in Trowbridge.

Last year Bowerhill Residents Action Group planted a cherry tree with a plaque on it in her memory funded by her parents, formerly of Halifax Road, who have now moved away from Bowerhill and wanted a lasting memory of her in the town.

To donate to Mr Phillips' marathon run go to: justgiving.com/darrensmarathon4