Woman runs 55 half marathons in 55 cities for mental health charity

A woman has completed a fundraising challenge of running 55 half marathons in 55 different cities across England.

Alice Fortune, 24, finished her final run in London earlier this month in a bid to raise money for mental health charity Young Minds.

The doctor, from Ilkley, said running was the "single best thing" she had done for her mental health and it was an important cause to fundraise for.

She said she had "run in rain, snow, wind, at sunrise and sunset."

The challenge saw her complete a half marathon every two to three weeks over the last two and a half years, raising almost £9,000.

Family and friends joined her on one of her last runs in London

She has clocked up a total of 737 miles (1,186km) over 120 hours in cities including Brighton, Bristol, Salford, Southampton and Westminster.

Ms Fortune said to travel to all the places she had visited had taken 160 train journeys and more than 300 hours of travelling.

"If you'd have told 16-year-old me that I'd have got into running at all, let alone did this challenge, she would literally never believe you."

Her favourite city to run in was London, where she finished the challenge greeted by dozens of her family and friends.

She said as a teenager she was never sporty but running had helped with her mental health

She is planning on having a well-earned rest before considering what her next fundraiser may be.

"I think after asking people to donate for two and half years that I'm not going to do a big fundraiser for a while as everyone will be sick of me.

"But I'm so grateful for the support I've been shown."