Britain in the 21st century is pretty hard core. Everyone’s busy as they try to juggle work, family and social commitments.

And while there is still a chance to grab some down-time in the 24/7 society that we now live in, that’s not really the case for four people who work in Quedgeley, who are, quite literally, being run off their feet.

That’s because they are competing in the London Marathon on Sunday 22nd April and have been preparing for the ever-popular race since October.

The fab four in question – Steve Jones, Simon Trippett, Wendy Worger and Victoria Anderson – all work at The Property Centre’s head office and when they’re not trying to sell houses, they’re running around them in preparation for the 26.2-mile event in a few weeks’ time.

“None of us have ever run a marathon before,” said Wendy. “We’ve run half marathons, but this is something much bigger altogether.”

So why go for the London Marathon this year?

“Because we wanted to help local charities,” explained Simon. “Specifically The Spring Centre in Quedgeley and Maggie’s Cancer Support in Cheltenham.

“Both do an amazing job – The Spring Centre provides care and support to children and young people with disabilities and their families from across Gloucestershire, while Maggie’s Cheltenham, on College Baths Road, is a place where anyone affected by cancer is welcome.

“All the money we raise will go to these two great causes – I’m sure there are easier ways to raise money but we’re up for a challenge!”

Well, they’ve certainly got their wish and all of them admit that getting up to speed for the big day is tough going.

“Training is really hard because of the distances we have to run. We’re running up to 30 miles a week and there aren’t many bits of Cheltenham and Gloucester we don’t know now!” said Victoria.

“It takes time,” said Wendy, “and we’re all trying to juggle full-time work and family. Ideally, after you’ve been for a run you want some recovery time, but it’s just not possible. You want to sit down and have a sleep for two hours but you’ve just got to keep going.”

The four train separately – Simon and Steve live in Gloucester, Wendy in Cheltenham and Victoria lives in Cambridge, near Dursley – although the boys are planning to run together on the big day.

None of them have a specific target time in mind – they say they’ll just be glad to run the whole thing and finish injury-free.

“We’re all putting in the effort, definitely,” said Steve. “A typical training programme is 12 weeks but ours started in October/November, so we’ve all been doing our share of hard winter miles.”

That covers the Christmas and New Year festivities, of course, so how did the four cope over party fortnight?

“We were all pretty good,” said Wendy. “Alcohol and running don’t mix that well!”

Making sacrifices is the name of the game, of course. “Both of the charities we’re running for do such valuable work,” said Wendy. “Knowing that we’re helping them is enough to keep us on the wagon and will help us through the pain barrier on the day.”

While they may not be the most experienced of runners, the four have all competed in big races in the past.

“Steve, Wendy and I ran in the Paris Half Marathon in March last year,” said Simon. “It rained constantly, even hailed at one point – not surprisingly, there were hardly any spectators that day!”

So what is the team hoping for weather-wise on 22nd April?

“We just want it fine, not even sunny, just dry,” said Simon.

And what are they looking forward to most on the big day?

“The Mall,” laughed Victoria, “because that’s where the finish line is! Looking at the route, once we get to the 20-mile mark I think we’ll be okay. The last five or six miles take us past all the famous buildings so that will be pretty special.”

Follow the team’s preparation for the London Marathon on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ThePropertyCentres