A MUM is running the London Marathon for the first time to support her daughter who has coeliac disease.

Emma Pirie, 10, was diagnosed with the disease when she was four years old.

Coeliac is a serious autoimmune disease caused by a reaction to gluten.

Her mum Jenny, from Laywood Close in Braintree, is planning to run the London Marathon to raise money for the charity that supported her daughter.

Mrs Pirie, 40, said: “She can’t eat what anybody else eats at parties, she stares sadly at the buffet wishing she could eat it but she has to take her own lunchbox of food.

“If she eats anything with gluten she projectile vomits, but the long term effects include infertility, cancers and general bowel problems.

“It’s really hard and really said for a girl so young.”

She is running to raise funds for Coeliac UK because of the support she has received from the charity.

She said: “I am delighted to be running for them this year and training is going extremely well.

“I started off with a target time of five hours but now I am hopeful to break the four hour mark, at least that's what I’m hoping for.”

She is hoping to raise £2,000 by race day.

She said: “If it means just one more person thinks that it's worth getting tested as a result then that would be fantastic.”

She will run the Virgin London Marathon on Sunday, April 24.

To sponsor Jenny, please visit www.justgiving.com/Jenny-Pirie