The final Sunday of April saw Sidmouth Running Club member Beccy McDonald realise a landmark ambition which was to complete a marathon distance running off-road, writes Hamish Spence.

Taking the #26point2 Challenge very seriously, Beccy carefully planned her route.

She’d been wanting to run the East Devon Way to Exmouth for a while, and, with lockdown, she had of course been doing all her running from and back to home. Setting off early in the morning from home to miss the heat of the day and more importantly to avoid other people, she embarked on her quest.

Her total distance covered was 27.67 miles and, with an average pace of 10.52min/miles, she managed to complete it in five hours.

Before she left, Beccy set up a JustGiving page to raise money for Refuge.

Her mother-in-law was keen to sponsor her, so this seemed the quickest and best way.

However, she was blown away to discover that she had raised over £500 by running a solo off-road marathon on the day and has continued to grow to over £700.

Beccy’s has been bowled over at people’s generosity and commented on the amount: “Well, it was very much worth the achy legs!”

Well done, Beccy, you’ve done yourself proud.