By Marjory Inglis, health reporter

TWO BROTHERS who watched the London Marathon from Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, made a pact to compete—but only one lived to make it to the starting line.

When Alan Yeaman died in 2001 his brother Derek was even more determined to go ahead with the challenge.

Not only did the Perth train driver want to honour the memory of his older brother, he wanted to show his immense appreciation for the care and treatment Alan was given at Ninewells.

Novice runner Derek (47) thought the biggest hurdle would be doing the training and competing without the support of his big brother. However, he never expected it would take six years to get his application form accepted.

Like thousands of other London Marathon hopefuls, Derek was repeatedly told his application was rejected but urged to keep applying.

After he’d almost given up hope of ever keeping his promise, Derek got word last November that he had a place to run in April.

“The closest I had ever come to running was running to the bar when they called last orders,” said Derek.

“When I first started training I was going out running in a pair of jeans and a polo shirt. It was quite comical.”

But by the time the day dawned when Derek entered the marathon, he’d done enough to stay the course, completing the marathon in a respectable six hours 20 minutes.

Derek admits there was a lump in his throat as he ran down The Mall towards the finish without Alan at his side, but tremendous satisfaction that he was finally able to keep his promise to his brother.

“Life has been on hold for the last six years. I told him I would do it and at last I was able to run in the London Marathon, so that was closure.”

Derek wanted to be sure the staff at Ninewells realised how grateful Alan’s family were for all the care and treatment he received at the hospital.

He returned there yesterday to hand over a cheque for £5227.

“I just wanted to do something for them,” said Derek.

“They did so much for us.”

The cash raised through his marathon will go to support photodynamic therapy (PDT), a technique that uses light activated drugs to identify cancer cells in hard-to-reach parts of the body that are then targeted with a laser.

The technique was being pioneered at Ninewells when Alan was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2001. He underwent PDT that April.

“He got his treatment on the Thursday and I went in to see him on the Sunday and we were just sitting watching TV together when the London Marathon came on,” said Derek.

“Alan said he was going to do it and I said I would do it with him.”

Alan, who lived in Methven, suffered a stroke in June 2001 and never walked again. He died in December that year.