An 84-year-old woman with a history of completing gruelling events is running 874 miles in aid of Bury Hospice.

Marie Caldwell, who lives in Holcombe Brook, set the target of running the same distance between the well known UK trek from Lands End to John O’Groats.

She has been running each day around Holcombe Brook, Summerseat, Greenmount and Ramsbottom.

Marie started the challenge on January 1 and was hoping to complete it by August 26, which will be her 85th birthday, having already completed more than 700 miles.

But she is looking to finish before then as she has only 10 miles left.

Mrs Caldwell said: “I started on January 1 and you get until December 31 to finish it but I said no way, I’m going to finish that on my birthday which will be August 26.

“Anyway, I’m three weeks ahead of schedule.”

Mrs Caldwell started running aged 45 and is an ultra-European record holder for 24-hour races.

She added: “I started running 40 years ago and there weren't many women running at the age of 45 when I started.

“I started picking up British records for my age group at that time.

“I had both hips replaced in 2013 and that brought my 24-hour races to an end.

“In 2017 I did the Bury 10k for my 80th birthday and then I did it again in 2018 and 2019 before we went in lockdown.

“Since then, I’ve just then been pottering around Holcombe Brook, Greenmount and Ramsbottom to keep fit really.

“I’ve run round this area for around 40 years and it will be 40 years this month since I started running so this challenge fits in nicely.

“My neighbours in Greenmount at that time thought I was mad.”

Mrs Caldwell was named Bury Woman of the Year in 2001 and has been raising funds for the hospice for 30 years.

She used to coach at Bury Athletics Club, and she used to host a fitness group at the Jubilee Centre in Bury when it first opened in the late 90s for 12 years.

For many years she wrote a running column for the Bury Times.

To donate to Mrs Caldwell’s cause, click here.