THE Cumbrian MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale Tim Farron is running the London Marathon. 

Mr Farron will be running in aid of the Great North Air Ambulance. 

The charity provides the air ambulance service for Cumbria.  From its base in Langwathby near Penrith, it can reach any part of the county in just 15 minutes at speeds of 190mph.

READ MORE: Tim Farron raises thousands by running London Marathon

The Great North Air Ambulance, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, is funded entirely by donations from the public.

At the weekend, he did an 18-mile training run from the Air Ambulance base at Langwathby down to Shap.

He said: “In such a rural county, with many accidents happening miles away from the nearest road, the service that the Great North Air Ambulance provides is simply irreplaceable.

“Not only can they be on-site in a matter of minutes, but they can also transport patients to specialist centres in Lancashire and the North East at speed.

“It’ll be an honour to run the London Marathon to raise funds for the charity.”

Lee Salmon, head of operations west and a paramedic at GNAAS, said: “Our charity relies on donations to survive, and we need to raise 6.7m a year to remain operational, so we are very grateful to have the support of Tim.

“It was great to meet him at our base before his training run, and we wish him the best of luck with the London Marathon.”