A FORMER professional footballer from Menston has literally given the shirt off his back to support his wife's New York Marathon run.

Linda Hendrie, of Whiddon Croft, will be joined by her neighbour, Debbie Holmes, when she sets off in the Big Apple race on Sunday, November 2.

Both women hope their efforts will raise up to £6,000 for Cancer Research UK - and they have already received a £500 boost from Mrs Hendrie's husband, John.

The former Bradford and Leeds player and Barnsley FC manager auctioned off the Bradford City shirt he wore at the time of the club's fire disaster to raise the cash.

Mrs Hendrie, 42, is now looking forward to getting her first glimpse of New York as she attempts to complete the 26.2 miles to raise the rest of the money.

She said: "We'll be flying out on October 31 and don't have to come back until the Tuesday after the race, so we should have a chance to have a look around the place.

"John's helped me out on the money side of things by auctioning his shirt, that really set me on my way.

"I've been running for a while but this came about after talking to my next door neighbour, Debbie, a while ago. We'd been running together and I'd completed the Leeds half marathon without feeling tired at all.

"Debbie mentioned that she'd always wanted to do a marathon - so we decided to just go for it.

"We did the London Marathon last year, that was our first, and we did this year's Great North Run together, really just as part of our training for New York.

"That's the next one and the one I think will be the most exciting, because I've never been there before."

The women did their last big run, a 20-mile workout, at the weekend and will now concentrate on gym work, and getting lots of rest, before the big day itself.

With both being busy mothers (Mrs Hendrie has four children) they are not sure if they will have the time to take part in any more marathons, so want to give a good account of themselves this time.

Mrs Hendrie said: "This might be the last one, so we want to do it well! The Cancer Research UK people are very well organised and really look after you, so it should all go to plan."