A PAIR of twins from Swindon are all set to complete their mission of running three marathons in a month.

Brothers Steve and Alex Murtough, 26, are pounding the streets for a total of 78.6 miles during April in aid of Barts Charity. The organisation supports Barts Health NHS Trust hospitals in East London and funds world-leading research at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry.

They picked the charity because of Steve’s work as a PhD student at the Blizard Institute in London, which is one of Barts’ centres of medical research.

“I am constantly amazed at the incredible support we receive from Barts Charity to enable fantastic research ideas to become a reality,” said Steve. “It is really quite unique to have a dedicated charity for our wonderful medical school and NHS trust and their funding really does go a long way to making East London’s healthcare the best in the world,” he added.

Recent donations from Barts Charity include £5.1 million to provide state-of-the-art robotic surgery equipment at St Bartholomew’s and the Royal London Hospitals.

Alex works as a civil servant, also in the capital. “I, sadly, don’t do anything quite as angelic as my brother. But we do share genetics, so that’s one thing, I guess,” he said.

After completing the Manchester Marathon on April 7 and the Great Welsh Marathon on April 14, the brothers will line up for the London Marathon on Sunday.

Steve and Alex have trained for their marathons by going on long weekend runs. The siblings say they are not competitive with each other and run together.

Steve said: “Alex is probably the quicker one, he’s always dragging me along. It’s always me that hits the wall, but he’s fine. Twenty miles into the Manchester one I was really struggling, and Alex definitely pulled me through.”

But Alex said: “In one marathon Steve finished one second ahead, so maybe he is a little bit more competitive!”

The pair took their second marathon the Great Welsh marathon a bit more slowly.

“That was a really nice coastal run,” said Steve. “It’s been lots of fun because we’ve been able to spend time together and see the beautiful city of Manchester, and the enjoy Carmarthenshire coast,” added Alex.

The brothers initially lived in central Swindon, before moving out to Highworth.

“It’s a place with a strong community and an incredible history with the railways,” said Alex.

“Swindon is just home," said Steve. “It’s one of those places that is special because of all the memories."

The pair are very close, with Alex saying: "He's my best friend."

“It has always been that way. Steve added: "It’s lovely to do something like this together. Having new experiences and new adventures together, and all in the name of charity,” he said.

The pair plan to take a break after their third marathon.

“Halfway through the second marathon, I turned to Alex and said we’re definitely not doing any more marathons this year,” said Steve.

Alex added: “I think we’ll have a good cup of tea and many biscuits."

Steve did say they had built up a connection with the charity and would like to continue helping them.

“Who knows what the future holds," Steve said. "Perhaps five in five days!”

To help the brothers' cause visit https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/AlexandSteveMurtough