The race is on to raise thousands of pounds for charity as men and women pull on their running shoes for this year's Leicester Marathon.
For Joe Crofton, 38 the marathon is part of a personal challenge to run eight marathons for eight months.
His marathon journey began in May with the Bosworth half marathon.
The co-director of the charity Soft Touch Arts is hoping to raise £2,000 to buy musical equipment for the organisation.
He said: "We have done a lot of work with young people with various disabilities and would like to increase this work, offering young people more possibilities, as well as being able to work with schools offering bespoke music workshops."
He added: "Running is a great way to keep me healthy and fit. When I don't run I feel low on energy. I chose eight marathons because there are eight months to go until Christmas and I wanted to keep up with my training."
Six cardiac nurses are limbering up for the Leicester half-marathon for the Joe Humphries Memorial Trust.
Becky Bausor, Mandy Cooper, Erin Ford, Bridget Longland, Leanne Hill and Louise Bowie will be cheered on by friends, family, trust members and fellow cardiac nurse Clare Bray, who planned to run but has been hit by injury.
Nurse Becky Bausor said: "When we decided to run the marathon, we knew that we all wanted to support this fantastic charity."
Steve Humphries, chair of the Joe Humphries Memorial Trust, said: "We're delighted that these nurses have decided to give up their time and make such an effort to support the work of the trust. "
Also running in Sunday's half marathon is a team of five Vista's Kathleen Rutland Home in Leicester Forest East.
They are raising money to create a woodland walk at the home.
It is a first for Paul Sykes, manager of the home who is taking part with colleagues Demi Ball, Lorna Lynch, Georgia Vincent and Hannah Poyser.
The five have already attracted sponsorship of more than £2,000 for taking part in the Leicester Marathon.
Paul said: "I've never run any distance before but I've been training and have lost three-and-a-half stone, so it's already had lots of benefits for me.
"With the sponsorship we're raising our residents will really benefit. The path hasn't been accessible for
about 10 years because tree roots have made it very uneven. It will be great when it's fixed and there's somewhere for people to sit."
However "going the distance of a full marathon will be Vista chief executive Paul Bott and four colleagues.
A PhD student from Leicester University Genetics Department will be running the half marathon in aid of the Meningitis Research Foundation.
Megan De Ste Croix, 25, from Hinckley researches the bacteria streptococcus pneumoniae, a leading cause of deaths around the world. This bacteria can cause pneumonia, septicaemia and meningitis amongst other diseases.
She said: "As well researching the bacteria I have first hand experience of it as I lost a school friend to meningitis in 2007 when we were in our first year of university."
