A group of 27 mums have come together over Facebook to support each other through their marathon training.

In December St Albans-based mum Nadia Dickinson created a Facebook group for other mums in the area training for a marathon.

She said: “I posted on the infamous SAMs (St Albans Mums) Facebook site to see if other London Marathon mums wanted to set up a Facebook group to share progress, stories, training plans, runs, kit, nutrition anything that’s going to help get us round 26.2 miles!

There are 27 SAMs running the London, Brighton and Paris marathons, many first timers as well few seasoned marathon runners.

Nadia explained: “We’re all mums with children aged one-18 so all taking on a huge task while looking after our children and working.”

All the mums began at different fitness levels and are raising money for different charities.

Nadia is running her first marathon for Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) where the daughter of two of Nadia’s good friends, Emily, is currently being treated.

She said: “Emily is a gorgeous little girl who has had a really tough start but she is a real fighter, she has shown amazing strength and I can’t think of better motivation to get me round the route.”

Another member of the group, Nicky Laitner from St Albans, is running the London Marathon for Chickenshed - a theatre company that use performance to bring together young people of all ages and social and economic backgrounds.

She said: “My wonderful daughter Charlotte who happens to have Down’s Syndrome is 16 and has been lucky enough to attend drama group at “the shed” for about 5 years. Charlotte loves her time at Chickenshed where she can be proud of who she is and what she can achieve.

“As parents we have found the most truly inclusive environment and are so grateful for the difference it has made to Charlotte’s and our lives.

“We have seen her confidence grow and have loved watching her perform in various productions over the years, laughing (and often crying) through every one.”

Fellow mum, Debs Gurton of Redbourn, is also running for GOSH as well as Campaign for Living Misery (CALM) - a mental health charity helping to prevent male suicide.

The Tourette’s clinic at GOSH helped to assess Debs’s son and the hospital also cared for Molly Goodchild, the Redbourn teenager who sustained life threatening injuries in a road traffic accident.