A CROFT Ambrey Running Club member marked her half-century of marathons by running four in four days.

Gemma Mallett only took on the 26.2 miles distance for the first time in 2012 after gaining a place in the London Marathon after a team-mate was injured.

Despite only having 16 weeks to prepare for the distance she finished in a time of three hours, 37 minutes and 47 seconds which qualified her for a 'Good for Age' place.

She returned to London in 2014 clocking 3:25.15 before going faster in 2017 running a time of 3:11.14.

"I gathered I was quite good at this running business so I did a few more," said Mallett.

"It was when I undertook a challenge of six marathons in six days in November 2015 that I discovered The100 Marathon Club.

"In smaller events you get talking to people and hear their stories, I ran with someone who had run 200 and something marathons.

"I couldn't believe it! But then thought maybe I could get to 100. Doing smaller events mostly on trail routes you tend to see familiar faces and it feels more social and less competitive than those bigger organised city marathon events."

Not content with competing over the 26.2 miles distance Mallett stepped up to run ultra-marathons.

Her most notable ultra-marathon being the 'The Royal Raid' over 50 miles in Mauritius which she completed in a time of 11 hours, 36 minutes and 36 seconds.

She followed this by Rat Race 'The Wall' 69 miles in June 2017 finishing in 13:50.23. "Later in 2017 I went on to complete seven consecutive marathons starting with ‘The Pumpkin Marathon’ followed by ‘The November Nightmare’," added Mallettt.

To gain her membership in the The100 Marathon Club the runner battled flooded roads in Wrexham before competing in the 'Codopoly Triple' race the following three days.

Speaking about her run in Wrexham, Mallett said: "At 8.5 miles the road flooded for a few hundred metres coming up to groin height which we were lucky enough to do the section twice.

"I managed to stay with the 3.15 pacers for the majority of the race and was very pleased with a finishing time of 3:16.00 and second place female for the second consecutive year.

Just a day later Mallett was back in action again, she said: "Come Monday morning I was exhausted from the speedy performance at Wrexham!

"My muscles felt tight – getting out of bed and down the stairs was a task. Day one and three consisted of 32 laps around Burroughs Bank.

"A lap count card was provided and lots of snacks and refreshments. Day two was my favoured route consisted of three out and back legs along a disused railway running from Coalport to Bridgnorth along the bank of the River Severn.

"In a small field I was first female each day with more conservative times to reflect the nature of the course and also my fatigue.

"I've now submitted a spreadsheet of all my marathon times to the 100 Marathon Club for vetting."