Nadine Lyons enjoys a challenge, so much so that at the age of 47 she’s preparing to tackle her third ultra marathon in just two years.

She’s currently training for the Ladybower Reservoir Ultra Marathon, which will take place in the Peak District on Saturday 12th October.

“It’s over 52 kilometres,” she said. “I could have done one over 25 kilometres but I like to challenge myself.”

Indeed she does and although she insists she is not a fast runner, she is still hoping to complete the course somewhere between seven and eight hours.

“It depends on the weather, how my legs are feeling,” she said.

“I won’t be running the whole way, I’ll walk and even crawl if necessary!”

The cut-off time is 10 hours so she should be well inside that and she won’t be lacking motivation because she’s raising money for a very good cause.

Nadine works for Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and she is running to support the renal team, who diagnose and treat patients with diseases of the kidneys. 

“I’m hoping to raise £1,000,” she said.  “I’ve raised money before, I ran the London Marathon in 2018 for WellChild.”

She remembers that 26.2-mile run well.

“It was the hottest London Marathon on record,” she said.

“It was just after the Beast from the East, we’d been training in really cold conditions and then on the day it was really hot.

“I’d been aiming to run five-and-half hours but I ended up doing six-and-a-half.”

That race around the capital came just three years after she’d taken up running.

So how did she get into the sport?

“Claire Bryant, one of my best friends, had started doing parkruns and she said I should come along,” explained Nadine, who lives in Churchdown.

“There were so many people having fun, it was a great atmosphere.”

By 2016 Nadine was running her first half marathon – the Cheltenham Half – which she completed in two hours, 26 minutes, and she’s also run the 10K many times.

The one-time Brockworth School pupil readily admits that she hated running at school which makes her achievements all the more impressive.

Her first ultra-marathon was the Race to the Stones in Wiltshire.

The course was 100K - she said she liked a challenge! – and she said: “You could do it over two days – 50K each day – or just keep going and run 100K.

“I decided to keep running, I’m impatient, I knew I wouldn’t sleep and I didn’t want to stiffen up.”

It was the right decision because she completed in 18-and-a-half hours and, confidence boosted, a year later she took on the Brecon to Cardiff Ultra Marathon. 

“That was over 72K,” she explained. “The time limit was 12 hours and I finished in 11 hours 57, there were just two guys behind me.”

That was obviously tough going, so what is Nadine’s favourite distance?

“I love a long distance,” she said. “I love being outside in the country, there are some beautiful views.

“The longer distances test you mentally and physically, you do hit a wall.

“When I did Race to the Stones you have to keep going through the night.

“You’re on your own, you’ve got to motivate yourself, I would sing to myself!”

The post-race recovery is important too, with Nadine taking a week off work once she completed the 100K.

“For a couple of days it was a struggle to get downstairs,” she said.

Nadine hasn’t joined a running club but she’s certainly going to keep on running.

Her two sons, Josh, 28, and Regan, 26, have also started running and she said: “Everybody can be a runner, it’s a sport for all shapes and sizes, it’s not just for elite runners.”

To support Nadine’s fundraising, visit Nadine Lyons is fundraising for Cheltenham and Gloucester Hospitals Charity (justgiving.com)