Steph Lane is an established name on the running circuit around Gloucestershire.

A member of Bourton Roadrunners, the 35-year-old middle distance runner has been competing at a good level for more than two decades.

The former Cotswold School pupil took up the sport at the age of 11 and in her teens kicked on at a rapid rate.

When she was 18 she was selected to run a half-marathon for England, and she once finished third overall in the Stroud Half Marathon.

That was nearly 20 years ago and her time that day of one hour, 18 minutes is still her PB for the distance.

“I was really pleased with that – that’s my PB that I’m most proud of,” she said.

And yet it hasn’t been all plain sailing for Lane who has been frustrated for long periods by injury.

She didn’t get the chance to represent England because she developed plantar fasciitis – a stabbing pain in the bottom of the foot – which sidelined her for more than a year.

“I was very disappointed,” she admitted. “I was running a lot of half-marathons in those days.”

Happily she’s been injury-free for several years now and she’s producing times that are close to those she recorded when she was at her peak in her late teens.

In those early days she developed quickly as a runner after a slow start.

“When I started I was useless,” she admitted. “I had quite bad asthma when I was a child, my lungs weren’t working properly.

“Gradually I got better and better. Running helped my asthma and now I just need a quick inhaler before the start of a race.”

She joined Bourton Roadrunners when she was 14 and was soon recording a number of her PBs that still stand today.

She ran 36.06 in the Bourton 10K in 2008 – “I’m trying to get close to that now,” she said – and in the same year she clocked 17.41 in the White Horse 5K at Sandhurst.

But while that was her standout year, she’s still producing some very eye-catching times.

“I ran 5.10 in the Bourton Mile last year, that was a PB,” she said. “And this year I did the Linda Franks 5-Mile in 28.53, I was very happy with that because I didn’t think I’d get under 29 minutes.

“I think I’ve felt very confident over the last few years because I haven’t had the injuries.”

The self-employed sports massage therapist readily concedes that she got frustrated by all the injury setbacks but she has received plenty of support from her partner Alex Pye, who is also a member of Bourton Roadrunners – although Lane admits they can be competitive.

“We often have races where I win one and then he wins the next one,” she said.

“He’s a very good runner. He’s been a member of Bourton Roadrunners for a couple of years and we do run the same distances.”

Pye has also run a marathon – he clocked two hours, 59 minutes – something Lane has yet to do.

“I would like to do one at some point but the training worries me,” she said. “I find that when I do a lot of running that’s when I tend to get the injuries.

“My mileage is really low, I do about 20 miles of training each week. My body seems to like minimal training and fast races!”

She thinks 10K is her best distance these days.

“I enjoy a 10K and there are a lot of them around,” she said. “You don’t have to go out as quickly as the 5K but it’s not a really long distance. It’s just 37 minutes of going for it.”

Lane is clearly going to keep going for it for as long as she can as far as her running is concerned.