IT'S a good job Sarah Woodiwiss likes a challenge.

When her father passed away two and a half years ago, the family looked around for some way to mark his death by raising money for charity.

They settled on the London Marathon, and as Sarah was deemed the one fittest enough to do it she was given the job.

The problem was, at 45 she had never run seriously before and hadn't put on a pair of running shoes for 20 years.

She soon changed that.

Six months of training later she completed that marathon, then went on to do four more and tomorrow takes on her biggest challenge yet – a 53-mile GB Ultra marathon in Chester.

"I'm scared to death," admits the Little Lever woman.

"I was looking for a new challenge after completing five marathons and saw these GB Ultras and thought I'd give it a go.

"They're totally different from the normal marathon in that you don't have people showing you the way.

"You have to orienteer yourself around the course and carry a supplies kit on your back with a first aid kit, survival blankets, ordinance survey map, compass – everything you need to be self-sufficient just in case something doesn't go to plan.

"There are only 250 people taking part and it's mostly on trails in the countryside. It's very hilly and muddy and you run through Delamere Forrest. It's beautiful but quite a challenge."

And it's the challenge that attracts her.

"You have to do your training through the winter for most of these marathons and ultras, but that's what I like," she said.

"Most people like to get home from work in the dark and cold and settle down in a nice warm house.

"That's when I like to go out and do my training.

"It's hard and very demanding mentally, but it's the mental challenge I like.

"I've been training for six months for this – between 60 and 70 miles a week – and hopefully I'm ready.

"I hope so because I've signed up to do another GB Ultra next month which runs along canals from Liverpool to Manchester."

Sarah admits she has been bitten by the running bug big time, and her appetite to keep pushing herself shows no sign of diminishing.

"I've done my marathons and the next stage is going up to the ultras and after that up to 100 miles," she said.

"So when I've done the ultras I'm considering doing a 100 miler."

Sarah, whose day job is in education working with children with special needs, said her running lifestyle is a direct result of her father John Moore dying.

"I never thought I'd be doing anything like this two or three years ago," she said.

"I took up running two and a half years ago when my dad passed away and we wanted something good to come out of his passing so we looked around for something.

"We looked at the London Marathon and I volunteered because I was the most energetic.

"I trained for about six months through the winter. I met Matthew Dewhurst from Team Deane and he said come to the track at Leverhulme Park to train so I joined the One Foot On The Track group then joined the Burnden Road Runners club.

"We raised money for BLESMA who support ex-servicemen who have lost limbs because they helped my dad.

"When my husband Tony's dad, Roy Woodiwiss, passed away at Christmas we decided to use this Chester ultra marathon to raise money for Bolton Hospice because he was cared for by them and my dad was cared for by their outreach team."