Woman to run 10 marathons to reach her parents' home

Sarah-Jane Hill, who lives in Somercotes, is set to run about 10 marathons in 10 days from the Derbyshire village to her parents home in Devon

A woman is set to run from Derbyshire to Plymouth in a challenge her family has called her "bonkers" for taking on.

Sarah-Jane Hill said she was aiming to run about 10 marathons in 10 days from her home in Somercotes to her parents home in Devon.

Ms Hill said she has taken on the challenge to support a number of causes after her dad was diagnosed with dementia, her son suffered a near fatal asthma attack and her brother was diagnosed with heart failure.

She said: "All the causes have really spurred on my training and my want to do it more."

The 50-year-old told the BBC when she did her first marathon - a virtual London Marathon in 2021 - her mum commented on a Facebook post, 'Would you like to run here for a cup of tea?'

"It became a bit of a joke and I said 'You never know, but nobody else would do it with me.'

"I would often go for a run, then jump in the car and drive to my mum and dad's and think 'I'll have a shower when I get there.'"

"My mum and dad would say 'you've run here again' and it became a joke.

"Then, last year, I thought I'm going to be 50 in February, so I'm going to do it."

Sarah-Jane Hill said she had been waking up at 04:30 BST to go on runs to prepare for the challenge

Ms Hill said she was supposed to do the challenge in May, but in February she put her training on hold after her son had a near fatal asthma attack and was in a coma for four days.

Since she started her training last year, she said her dad had also been diagnosed with dementia and her brother a month ago was diagnosed with heart failure.

She said the initial idea was to run for mental health awareness, but now she was running to raise money for Samaritans, Queens Medical Centre resuscitation unit, Dementia UK and the British Heart Foundation.

Ms Hill said to prepare for the challenge, she had been waking up at 04:30 BST and running between 10 and 20 miles around a loop of a housing estate near where she lives.

"All the old people come out to say good morning and there's one man in particular that walks his dog and says to me every morning 'you're the only person I've ever seen that's got a smile on their face when they run,'" she added.

The 50-year-old said her family had called her "bonkers" for taking on the challenge, but were supporting her, with her husband driving a motorhome, and her eldest son completing the challenge on a bike.

Ms Hill said: "The challenge is going to be about mental strength and yes my legs are going to be tired, yes I'm probably going to have blisters."

"It's your brain that says stop and you have to overcome that," she added.