WITH several Swindon Half Marathons under her belt a keen endurance runner is preparing to pull on her running shoes for the ultimate test of her abilities this weekend despite staring disappointment in the face.

Claire Smedley, 47, is taking on the Autumn 100 – a 100 mile trail run taking in the Ridgeway and Thames Path National trails over two days this weekend.

The run comes after she completed the 50 mile Centurion Running South Downs Way ultra-marathon in April of this year, before she took on the Enduroman 100 a little while later.

She said: “After the high of finishing a 50 mile race, I entered the Enduroman 100 mile race just three months later, but pulled out after 56 miles. I was devastated.

“I had no idea of the mental toughness required to complete 91 laps of a 1.1 mile multi-terrain course overnight, in the rain after spending the previous four days with little sleep - I’d been crewing my husband though a five times iron distance ultra triathlon. I was totally unprepared when a massive low point hit me just before dawn. I felt completely and utterly broken.”

She had to bow out of the race after reaching the 56 mile point. While she may have been down, she most certainly wasn’t out and now she has steeled herself ready to take on the 100 mile challenge once again.

She said: “I may not have the speed I had when I was younger, but I definitely have more endurance and the faith that with enough training and the correct mental attitude anything is possible.

“About two weeks after my 100 mile failure in June, I’d already entered another 100 mile race which I hope to complete this weekend with crew help from my husband and then next June I’ll be back to conquer the race that defeated me this year.

“I have always been sporty, but in adulthood running has just generally been a part of keeping fit. I had run the local Swindon half marathon a few times, but never ran regularly or followed any kind of structured run training until June 2014 when I decided that I wanted to enter an ultra-marathon.

“I had been crewing for my husband Graham during the previous few years as he completed several 100 mile races. So I started following a plan for my first marathon, Leicester Marathon in October 2014, which would then enable me to enter a 50 mile race.

“In my teens or twenties I never thought I’d ever be capable of running a marathon and certainly wasn’t aware that anything longer than a marathon even existed. Now at age 47, I am an ultra-marathon runner.”

The route will take the runners on a cross-shaped route, completing four 25 mile out and back spurs from the central point of the villages of Goring and Streatley.