Jenny Gardiner only started running three years ago “just to get out of the house”, but now she’s preparing to run her first marathon.

And it’s not just any marathon, because on Sunday 22nd April she’ll be lining up in Blackheath with 40,000 other runners for the start of the London Marathon.

“Yes, it’s all happened quite quickly,” chuckled mum-of-three Jenny. “I started doing a bit of running when my youngest son was 18 months old.

“I’d run a couple of miles just to get out of the house and lose a bit of weight.”

That was about three years ago.

“I knew I needed to do something,” she continued. “I love food and I had to find a way of being able to keep on eating while not putting on weight.

“After having kids, it can be hard for mums to find any time at all for themselves, let alone for fitness!

“So I made it a priority to fit two or three 30-minute runs into my week. Whatever happened, I stuck to my plan!

“Mentally and physically I slowly started to notice a difference. Running is a relatively easy sport to fit in, and it doesn’t matter, fast or slow, a mile is a mile!”

“Since I’ve been running I’ve toned up, lost weight and mentally feel better.”

So how did Jenny, who is now 37, fit the running round her busy family life?

“I used to go out at six in the morning for half an hour,” she laughed. “Everyone in the house was asleep when I went out and they were still asleep when I got back.

“The run would set me up for the day.”

It may only have been a couple of miles but it was a big step for former Cleeve School pupil Jenny who had never previously done any running.

But she soon found it was something she was half decent at, and it wasn’t long before she started entering a few races.

“I’ve done a few half marathons,” she said with some pride. “I ran the Great North Run. There were about 50,000 runners and it was mental.

“I finished in one hour, 54 minutes and it was really hilly as well. That surprised me. I never look at the details about a race, I just rock up.”

Jenny, who lives in Bishop’s Norton, raised money for the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital children’s ward that day in Newcastle, and when she heads to the capital in a few weeks’ time for her marathon challenge she’ll be running for Sue Ryder Leckhampton Court Hospice.

“Sue Ryder Hospice have cared for a couple of dear friends of mine over the last few years, and that’s what keeps me running when my body is crying to stop,” said Jenny.

That’s plenty of motivation to complete the 26.2-mile course, although she is understandably hesitant when asked what time she is hoping to go round in.

“I don’t know,” she said, “I’m scared to say in case I don’t do it. The way I’m training I think I could do it in four hours but I’ll say four-and-a-half… I’ll give myself an extra half hour!

“I just don’t know what my body will do on the day. I think I’ll just go for it and let the crowd carry me.

“I’ve done a lot of training and stuck to the plan given to me by running coach Kerry Newell.”

That plan has seen Jenny running 30 miles a week. It’s hard work and she admits that she is looking forward to the big day.

“The thing I’m most looking forward to is the feeling of accomplishment when I’ve completed the course,” she said.

And anything she is dreading?

“If I need a wee,” she laughed.

Whatever happens, Jenny, who joined Tewkesbury Running Club six months or so ago, has really been bitten by the running bug.

“I can’t sing the praises of running enough,” she said.

And ‘singing the praises’ is something you’d pretty much expect someone to do, I suppose, who sings with a group called Songbirds.

“We’re four female singers, a male pianist and a guitarist,” said Jenny. “We’re a close harmony group – the pianist is also a vocalist – but we also do comedy. I do a lot of Victoria Wood sketches.”

And while Jenny clearly likes to have fun, she’s deadly serious about her running these days.

“Marathon training is an enormous battle with your brain,” she said. “If you can ignore the voice in your brain when you have done 15 miles, that is the key because the body is not designed naturally to run that far.”

If hard work counts for anything Jenny should almost skip round the course in London.

And willing her on on the big day will be husband Matt and their three children Freddie, Kitty and Jett.

“They’ve been brilliant,” said Jenny. “It’s been hard for them because I’ve been out training a lot.

“But when I come in Matt has cooked dinner and the children massage my feet for me!”

The children have also done their bit to raise money for Sue Ryder.

“They held a crazy hair day at their school, Norton Primary School,” Jenny said. “The teachers joined in as well and they raised £145.”

So does Jenny think she’ll run another London Marathon after this one?

“I don’t know,” she said. “I can’t imagine doing all the training again. But running is really addictive and I really enjoy fundraising.

“I’m really good at asking other people for money!”

She’s a pretty decent runner too.

Jenny’s fundraising link is www.justgiving.com/fundraising/mrsjennygee