Anna Freeman has come a long way since she started running seven years ago.

The 46-year-old is a familiar sight on the tracks and trails around her Parkend home, near Lydney, and in recent weeks has been completing her preparations for tomorrow’s Forest of Dean Autumn Half Marathon.

She is an experienced runner these days, having run both the Spring and Autumn half marathons on several occasions, as well as a whole host of other races.

So, how did she get into running?

“I got the opportunity to run the London Marathon in 2010,” she explained. “That’s what really got me into the sport. The opportunity came through work and I had to raise a couple of grand for charity to be eligible to enter. I’d only really been running for about six months before that.”

So, how did she do?

“Not very well,” she laughed. “I did it in five hours, 40 minutes which was a horrible time. My main focus was to raise money for the NSPCC so I didn’t do much training.

“But I’d always wanted to run the London Marathon ever since I used to watch it on TV with my dad. I’d love to go back and give it another go.”

It’s a sign of how far Anna has come over the intervening years that she is hoping to run tomorrow’s race in under two hours… at least that was the original target.

“If you’d ask me a couple of days ago I’d have said that was definitely the target,” she told The Local Answer on Monday. “But I’ve got tight calves at the moment so we’ll have to see.”

Hopefully, Anna will be fully fit when she goes to the start line at 10am with close on 1,000 other competitors.

Her best time for the Autumn race is two hours, three minutes and her best for the Spring is a couple of minutes quicker than that.

She has completed the Newport Half Marathon in sub two hours – one hour, 59 to be precise – but the Forest races are on the less forgiving trail routes.

Normally Anna is accompanied by her husband Rob at the big races, but he’s currently sidelined with a fractured tibia.

“He thinks he did it in the Seven Sins race in January,” said Anna, “although it was only after the Standish 10-miler in August that he stopped running. He ran the London Marathon in April!”

Rob, who is two years younger than Anna, only started running once his wife did. Before that he was a keen mountain biker but he has put his best foot forward since taking up his new sport.

“Yes, he’s quite good,” chuckled Anna, “he’s definitely quicker than me. He’d be looking to run a half marathon in one hour, 35.”

Rob will still be involved in tomorrow’s event because he will be one of the people on bicycles at the head of the race.

“Their job is to lead the runners so they know where they are going and make sure there are no obstructions on the course,” said Anna, who like her hubby is a member of Forest of Dean Athletic Club.

Anna is certainly an active member and runs over several distances such as 10K and half-marathon as well as being a regular in the Forest of Dean 5K parkruns on Saturday mornings.

In fact, Anna likes to support all things local and is definitely a big fan of the Forest of Dean Half.

“It’s part of the calendar,” she said. “It’s very, very well organised and the money raised goes to local charities. It’s very well supported and there is always a good atmosphere, it’s a good all round event.”