THEY'RE on their marks and ready to raise thousands for a poorly little boy.

Hundreds of people are preparing to take part in the fourth annual Romsey Relay Marathon organised by Romsey's Rotary Club.

And among them are 50 runners who are raising money for Toby Dobson and the Hampshire school that supports him.

The nine-year-old from Chandlers Ford has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy and chronic lung disease.

The youngster's twin brother died at just two hours old but Toby, who weighed just 1lb 12oz at birth, has battled through life, undergoing heart surgery, a hernia operation and eight blood transfusions, spending 160 days in hospital.

Now his family hope to raise more than £4,000 by taking part in the event.

The cash will be split between three causes with £500 going to the Rotary Club and the rest being shared between Team Toby's charity which helps his family pay for specialist equipment and treatment and the youngster's school Shepherds Down School in Compton, Winchester.

The school will use their share of the cash to pay for music therapy for its students who have complex learning needs, which currently costs £1,000 a month.

Toby's mum, Lyndsay said: "We're doing it again because the more I hear about the school the more money I think we need to raise for them.

"It's great to give something back to the people who help Toby and all the other children.

"I said I wouldn't do it this year. I said I needed time out but everyone said we need to do it.

"We have a completely different set of runners this year. The amount of support we get touches me."

To donate to Team Toby visit justgiving.com/lyndsay-dobson3.

To enter a team of up to 10 runners visit romseymarathon.co.uk.

There is still time to sign up for the 1.3-mile marathon which takes place at Broadlands Estate in Romsey from 10am on April 17.