Campbell Fullarton, 36, hopes to inspire his two young sons when he joins stars including Paula Radcliffe and Haile Gebrselassie – and 30,000 others – pounding the London streets.

Campbell, of Jeanie Deans Drive, Colgrain, attended Lomond School and works in Corporate Actions for a Glasgow-based investment bank, Smith and Williamson.

After being challenged by his father, former Advertiser editor Donald Fullarton, to run a marathon and raise funds for the Order of St John, a charity he has supported for over 40 years, it seemed the perfect chance to run the London Marathon – something he had aspired to do since childhood.

He said: “I got in touch with the St John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital Group, and I was delighted to be chosen to be one of their runners in this year’s event.

“My parents have visited the hospital and admire the work it does in a very troubled part of the world.

“The Eye Hospital Group set me a target of raising £1,500, and to date I have raised £1,739 and would like to increase this as much as possible. Gift Aid will add to the total.

“My employers, Smith & Williamson have been very supportive and allowed all Fridays in February to be dress down days for charity, with all Glasgow employees giving a £1 to dress down and support my cause. This raised £549.” Although he is a keen member of Helensburgh Athletic Club and has been running 10ks, half marathons, and cross country events since 2006, tackling his first marathon will be a real challenge.

A talented sportsman in his youth, competing in athletics, tennis, and rugby for Lomond School and local clubs, at 14 he developed Osgood Schlatters disease in both knees – sidelining him for 12 months.

After a year of no sport and trying to resume his sporting activities, continuous knee ligament and cartilage problems resulted in his GP referring him to a knee specialist – and at 16 his sporting ambitions were over.

He said: “My wife and I moved back to Helensburgh from Old Kilpatrick in 2006 and, inspired by the local 10k at that time starting just beside our house. I started getting back into running and managing my knee as best I could, with rest when it flared up.

“For the marathon I am following the Furman Institute training plan with three running sessions a week – a speed session on a Tuesday, a tempo run on Thursday, and a long run at the weekend. So far this year I have run over 300 miles in preparation for London.

“With following the training plan, so far I have managed to stay relatively injury free, and I am looking forward hopefully to finishing the marathon in under four hours.

“With my knee problems they could pack in for good at any time so I want to try to do as much sport as I can before I am unable to.” The St John Eye Hospital in Jerusalem is open to all races and religions, but principally serves the Palestinian population.

Hospital staff take treatment to areas of need, partly because of the severe restrictions on employment and general movement of staff and patients. This includes the Separation Wall, built by the Israeli Government.

Situated in East Jerusalem, the main hospital has a very modern operating theatre and a large outpatient department, as well as 49 beds.

The Hebron Hospital, opened in 2005 and about to move to new custom-built premises largely funded by St John Scotland, serves the densely populated area round Hebron and Bethlehem.

A Gaza Clinic has been operating since 1992 and is a mini-hospital with the same standards of care as the main hospital, despite the level of military conflict in the area.

Mobile Outreach Clinics were introduced in 1982 and there are currently two of these.

With the opening of the Anabta Centre in 2007, the group became able to reach almost all of the West Bank towns, villages and refugee camps.

The hospital, which treats 114,000 patients each year including 37,000 children and carries out some 4,200 operations, is renowned for its teaching, and a key priority is to train the next generation of local doctors and nurses. Valuable ophthalmic research is also undertaken.

Anyone wishing to sponsor Campbell can do so at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/CampbellFullarton.