Two runners from Barrow completed an exhausting schedule of running ten marathons in ten days when they competed in the Windermere Brathay race last Sunday.

Sonja Farish, 49, who is a member of Barrow and Furness Striders, and James Thomas both managed the remarkable challenge and did so in running all ten within four-and-a-half hours to five-and-a-half hours.

They were two of 16 runners at Windermere completing the '10in10' challenge.

Tony Hooper, a 44-year-old from Grimsby, managed to run each of his marathons in under four hours, making him the fastest.

The fastest woman was 44-year-old Marie Williamson, (Glossopdale Harriers and Derbyshire Dynamos), who ran her first marathon in 4:35:59 and averaged 5:06:45.

There were 1,200 runners in total competing in the variety of running events to took place on the day at Windermere, which raised over £100,000 for Ambleside-based Brathay Trust.

Of those runners, 975, including the 10in10ers, took part in the 13th annual Windermere Marathon, with the demanding 26.2-mile route around England’s largest lake taking in Hawkshead, Newby Bridge, Bowness-on-Windermere and Ambleside.

The day also saw 158 runners take part in Brathay’s newest race offer, a 5km run.

The course took runners through Skelwith Fold and along the River Brathay and the first runner back in from that race was Rob Pope with a time of 17:35, while the fastest woman was Lauren Booth from Ulverston-based Hoad Hill Harriers in a time of 22:40, which made her ninth overall.