Marathon fundraising effort for married ministers
Published on 24 April 2025 4 minutes read
While their finishing time has still to be determined, married ministers Rev James Bissett and Rev Susan Cord have already smashed one target for this week's London Marathon.
Originally the couple had a fundraising target of £6,000 for cancer charity Maggie's Highlands, but having already well exceeded that amount, they are now aiming for at least a £7,500 boost to help care for cancer patients in the north.
James, who is currently serving as minister for the Old High St Stephen's congregation in Inverness, thanked their supporters for helping achieve this sum, through donations, but also book sales and quiz nights at not only James' own church, but at other congregations including Nairn Old and Culloden Barn Church, while the Good Craic Café on Inverness High Street hosted a special high tea fundraiser that brought in over £1000.
"We are very grateful to anyone who has donated in any way," James said.
"So many people went above and beyond to raise money for us, and all of that money will go direct to Maggie's.
"We have had a lot of good supporters. Every time we tell anyone we are doing something for Maggie's people will say ‘I was there' or a friend or family member was there. It's a place that has touched so many people.
"Just as part of ministry work, we have known lots of people who have gone through Maggie's services. It is a cause that we both have an attachment to."
This is not the first time that Susan, a hospital chaplain with NHS Highland, has raised funds for Maggie's, although in her previous challenge while a minister in Fife, the distance she had to cover was measured vertically rather than horizontally.
"The last time I raised money for Maggie's, I jumped out of a plane at 13,000 feet without a parachute attached to me (fortunately it was a tandem jump). That was to support the building of Kirkcaldy Maggie's centre," revealed Susan, who has also abseiled off the Forth Bridge in support of the Church of Scotland's social care provider CrossReach.
"In my hospital chaplain role, I suggest Maggie's to patients and their relatives for support on their cancer journeys. Often folks are nervous at the first visit, but describe walking through the doors and the welcome as ‘like a warm hug'."
Whatever time they complete the 26.2 mile course – though they are hoping to break 6 hours 30 minutes – it will be a personal best for Susan, though James has already run the marathon, both in real life and virtually.
James, who began running after taking up the Couch to 5k Challenge to improve his fitness during lockdown, began with a Virtual London Marathon in 2021, plotting out a route across the Contin and Strathpeffer parishes and raising funds for the Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH) in the process.
"I was the minister for Contin and Strathpeffer at the time and I did three services at three different churches along the route," James said.
Amazing atmosphere
James was finally able to take part in the real London event in 2022, when he ran in aid of Whizz-Kidz, which provides ergonomic wheelchairs and other aids to disabled children, and is looking forward to a return to the event alongside Susan.
"We are both excited for it," he said.
"Having done London, before, it's got such an amazing atmosphere. People who do it in three hours are missing two hours of entertainment. There are 55,000 people taking part, which is just about the population of Inverness. It's a huge, huge event and I would love to see the organisation at the back of that. For one thing, there are crash barriers along both sides of the course – where do you get 50 miles of crash barriers?
"I was in the back of the pack where you have all the costumes. There are people raising funds for illnesses in every part of the body – I got passed by a couple of ovaries! Then you have the London Fire Brigade, who usually have folk running in full gear. People have picnics at the side of the course and the churches, when they come out, line the streets as well, and every mile or so you have a different band playing. We went through an LGBT area and there were drag queens putting on a show. It's such a great day."
This will be the first time that James and Susan will have run a marathon with each other and the couple hope to start and finish together – even if Susan is much faster, James admits.
"But if one of us does come in first, the other is not going to hear the end of it," he added.
You can support James and Susan at their JustGiving page:
