Cam Pay will have his own personal fan club when he takes part in the Cheltenham Half Marathon on Sunday.

The 55-year-old Tewkesbury Running Club member will be cheered on by wife Nicky, son Alex and daughters Molly, Izzie, Darcey and Sava.

And that’s not all because Izzie will be joined by her husband Ryan who will also be part of the support crew along with their children Amelia, 6, and 18-month-old Olivia.

They typify much of what the Cheltenham Half is all about, of course, because anyone who lives in or near the town knows it has always been a very well supported event.

This will be Cam’s fourth Cheltenham Half, so he most definitely knows what to expect.

He has a best time over the course of two hours, 11 minutes, so what’s his target this year?

“Two hours, 10 minutes, 59 seconds,” came back the quick reply.

Cam reckons he has run about 20 half marathons and he has a best time over 13.1 miles of one hour, 57, a time he set some 10 years ago at Tewkesbury.

The one-time member of Almost Athletes – he joined Tewkesbury Running Club seven years ago when he moved to the town from Cheltenham – started running two decades ago.

“I watched the 2002 London Marathon on TV from my couch and thought, ‘I should be doing this’, so I did the Couch to Marathon.

“It took me 12 months but I ran the London Marathon in 2003.”

He completed it too, finishing in five hours, three minutes, 40 seconds, but it remains the only time he has run 26.2 miles.

“I remember the pain,” he laughed. “I reckon everyone should run a marathon just so they know how painful it is!”

Cam, a self-employed property maintenance man, has lost two stone since he took up running in the early noughties and he said: “I wanted to lose weight and get fit.”

And he’s certainly a big fan of the Cheltenham Half, a race that starts and finishes at Cheltenham Racecourse.

“I like the fact that it is based at the racecourse,” he said. “I go to the races so it’s nice to run where the horses run. The crowds at Cheltenham are very encouraging, it’s one of the best supported halfs.”

The race gets under way at 9am. There is also a 10K race which starts at 9.15am for those who want to experience the thrill of competing around Cheltenham without having to run so far, and a family-friendly Community Mile which begins at 9.20am.