Runners supporting a North London hospice in this year’s marathon have been given a head start thanks to training by Tottenham Hotspur.

Tottenham’s first team sports science therapist Eddie Lattimore put those running for Noah’s Ark hospice through the same warm up regime as his players at the club’s Enfield training ground.

This has included state of the art running machines, bespoke training plans and nutritional advice.

The runners spent some time in Tottenham’s hypoxic chamber, where the oxygen levels are lowered to simulate altitude training, making the muscles work harder.

Noah’s Ark director of income generation Alison Goodman said: “This degree of confidence should give our marathon runners a real boost – having been prepared by a fitness team at a winning club.

“Interestingly the warm up is not as long as you’d think, at 20 minutes.

“Nor was the nutritional advice what we expected: instead of building up the carbs over a week or more before the marathon, just carbing up a couple of days beforehand, for best effect.

“We cannot thank the club enough for all their support to our runners. It was a real privilege for them access the highest quality preparation for the marathon, usually reserved only for sports stars.”

Noah’s Ark has six runners in the London Marathon this Sunday.

The hospice has a two-year charity partnership with Tottenham Hotspur which was launched last month at the North London derby against Arsenal.

To support Noah’s Ark’s runners, donate here: https://www.noahsarkhospice.org.uk/Appeal/donate-now