Veteran runner Pat Ainsworth is heading off to the capital again on Sunday - to take part in her 18th London Marathon.
And Pat, 69, of Emley, won’t be stopping there. She is targeting 20 London marathons before she finally hangs up her running shoes.
Pat, married to Jim, also 69, considered retirement this year but has now vowed to carry on.
“The plan is to do 20 as long as my body holds up,” said Pat. “I don’t drink much and I don’t smoke and I eat all the right stuff – because Jim does all the cooking!”
Inspirational Pat has only missed a couple of London marathons since she started in 1995 and will again be running for Marie Curie Cancer Care.
Pat has raised well over £120,000 for various good causes but admits she’s lost count of the true total.
“One day I’ll sit down with all my scrapbooks and work it out,” she said. “But not yet.”
Pat, who always kept herself in trim with sessions at the gym and yoga, decided to run her first marathon because she “fancied” having a go.
She insists she’s not one of those running addicts but she has a strict, disciplined routine when she’s in training.
“I train from December to April but outside that I will only run once a week, maybe four or five miles,” she said. “You have to be very disciplined and deny yourself.
“I am not someone who has to run every day. I am quite normal! I like to drink wine on holiday and I go shopping and buy clothes that I put in the wardrobe and don’t wear like most ladies do.”
Pat has done all the hard work now and this week will just keep her fitness levels ticking over.
Even though she knows the marathon routine – and route – like the back of her hand she still gets nervous.
“I’m quite a nervous person and the night before I won’t be able to sleep,” she said. “I will feel sick in the morning but once I get going I am fine.”
Pat, who also carried the Olympic torch at New Hall women’s jail in Flockton, her former workplace, in 2012, expects to complete the marathon in around six hours.
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