Sam Timms was looking forward to her next training run ahead of this year’s London Marathon when The Local Answer called.

And it wasn’t just any old location either because she was doing the training run in Tokyo, close on 6,000 miles away from her home in Oakridge Lynch.

And that’s not all because the previous week she was running in Sao Paulo as part of her preparations for the big race on Sunday 28th April and in the past has trained in Central Park and San Francisco in the US, India and Argentina to name just a few places.

You see, Sam Timms is a cabin crew for an international airline and the need to get miles in the legs means she has run pretty much all over the world.

The 54-year-old member of Cirencester Athletic Club has been running since the age of “38 to 40” and this year’s London will be her first ever marathon.

So how’s she feeling as the big day approaches?

“I’m a little bit daunted by it,” she admitted, before adding, “but I felt it was the right time to do it.

“I run with a wonderful group of people on a Thursday morning and some of them have run multiple marathons and done Ironmans.

“So I entered the ballot for the London Marathon and was quite shocked when I got a place.”

Mind you, it’s not the first time that she has had the chance to run in the race.

“The first time I was given a place I broke my wrist on a skiing holiday,” she explained. “I was obviously a bit down that I’d broken my wrist but I was also slightly relieved because it meant I wouldn’t have to run the marathon!

“I’m very lucky to be given a second chance and I’m going to give it my best shot.”

Timms moved to glorious Gloucestershire with her family some 16 years ago – “I love it here,” she said – and originally linked up with Stroud Athletic Club before switching to Cirencester AC.

And it was the Thursday morning running group who meet in Cirencester – they are made up of men and women ranging in age from their 20s to 70s – that was the big reason for her making the move.

The group are run by Dick Waldron and Timms, who describes herself as a social runner, said: “The ladies call ourselves Dick’s Chicks! He goes out before our runs and leaves water and jelly babies on our route.

“He says, ‘I don’t care how fast or how slow you are’. We go a lot off road, through the mud and the fields, I’m very, very grateful to him and the wonderful group I run with.”

So how did she get into running originally?

“I used to think running was for other people, I used to think runners were on a different planet,” she admitted. “But then we went on a cruise and there was a treadmill.

“By the end of the cruise I could do 30 minutes. Once you’d broken the first 10 minutes, that was the hardest bit.

“I’d always liked to keep fit. We had a dog – a collie/lab – and fitting in trips to the gym was difficult.

“I thought that by going running I could kill two birds with one stone, I could keep fit and exercise the dog at the same time.”

And it’s fair to say that she’s never looked back.

“It gives me head space,” she said. “The great thing about running is that you can fit it in around the rest of your life. And you always feel better when you come back.”

She was soon running in some of the best events around the county too.

“My first half was the Stroud Half and my first 10K was the Frampton 10K,” she said, adding that 10K was her favourite distance.

“I’ve never cracked the half marathon under two hours. I generally do two hours to two hours, 10; I like to say I’m half marathon fit!”

So what’s her target for the London Marathon?

“I’d like to say under five hours,” she said. “I ran the Cardiff Half Marathon in two hours, 12 so based on that I could run 4.38.

“That would be amazing but if I ran four hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds I’d be very happy.”

And it’s fair to say she’s certainly very happy at Cirencester AC.

“They’re a great club,” she said. “You’re running with like-minded people. You’re getting coached, they do speedwork and it’s also a chance to have a chat. It’s a fantastic way to meet local people.”

Timms’ husband Paul is also a member of the club and is a pretty decent runner. He’s run the London Marathon twice, clocking times of three hours, 33 and three hours, 40.

He will be supporting her in the capital this year as she has him in the past.

She’s also marshalled at the London Marathon – as she does at a number of events – and it was her quick-thinking a couple of years ago that actually saved a competitor’s life.

“It was right at the end of the London Marathon,” she said. “This guy was on to finish around the four-hour mark when out of the corner of my eye I saw him collapse.

“I saw some people helping him – it was like the M25 with all the runners coming in. I offered to help but he didn’t look well, he didn’t look like he was breathing.

“I thought, ‘We’ve got to do CPR on him now’.”

That’s when all her first aid training kicked in.

“I did CPR for nearly 30 minutes before he was whisked off in an ambulance,” she continued. “I carried on marshalling and later a policewoman who had seen what had happened told me he was alive.

“I couldn’t believe it, I was so very grateful to him that he had pulled through.”

She’s an interesting lady is Sam Timms.

When she spoke to The Local Answer she hadn’t decided which charity she’d be supporting when she runs the London.

Her husband raised money for the Alzheimer’s Society and Cancer Research but she admits she can’t picture anything beyond 28th April.

“I wake up and think about the London Marathon most of the day,” she admitted. “Some days I think I can do it, other days I lack confidence and I’m not so sure.

“It’s all about the mind game, you’ve just got to get out there and do it.”

She’ll be absolutely fine, of course, because she’s put in the hard yards. And all the training runs she’s been doing in preparation for the big day have helped her in her ‘other life’ as well because she’s not someone who has just the one hobby.

“I’m a member of Oakridge Players,” she said, “and we’ve just performed Hi-de-Hi!

“I played Peggy and I had to learn 105 lines. While I’ve been out running I’ve just been repeating all those lines!”

The three nights at Oakridge Village Hall attracted just short of 200 people, which is a very respectable number, so what was Timms’ favourite line?

“Mr Fairbrother, are you decent?” she laughed.

People of a certain age will remember that line from the BBC’s hit TV show in the 1980s and you can be sure that Sam Timms will be doing everything she can to ensure another showstopping performance on Sunday 28th April!