Two Congleton mums took to the road at the weekend and ran from Manchester to their hometown in the glorious sunshine.

Rebecca Marshall and Kelly Hurlstone had both originally signed up for the Manchester Marathon in 2019, being keen and competitive runners, Becky for Boalloy RC and Kelly for The Congleton Harriers.

The 32-year-olds had both been in full training for the big event due to take place on the 5th April 2020.

However, due to the unforeseen coronavirus pandemic the organisers sadly had to postpone the marathon until 11th October 2020.

Given the current climate the girls anticipate that this may now not even happen and having already received pledges of £1000 for the Special Care Baby Unit and maternity ward for the East Cheshire NHS Trust Charitable Fund, a charity close to Kelly's heart, they decided to bring their run forward.

They decided to run the marathon together, 2 metres apart, although they are both classed as the same household.

On Saturday (2nd May) they were driven to Manchester City's Ethiad Stadium by a member of their household.

They both knew this would not be an easy task as their last long training run was over eight weeks ago, and they only had two petrol station stops to refuel and hydrate, of course adhering to the social distancing rules.

However, they ran in the blistering heat via Didsbury, Cheadle, Handforth, Wilmslow and Alderley Edge, on a hillier route than anticipated, and after running for 3 hours, 32 minutes and 45 seconds, they arrived back into their hometown of Congleton.

They were greeted by only their shared children and fathers, not the finish they had planned in Manchester supported along route by their family and friends, but it was still just as special none the less.

The girls only had one another for support on both their first ever 26.2-mile stretch, and this was no easy task.

However, they made it successfully with their end goal in sight. Their proud smiling children Eva-Rose Hurlstone, Henry Hurlstone and Luca Marshall, all born with help from the maternity ward at Macclesfield Hospital were there to greet them at the finish line.

At the time of publishing, Kelly had raised £860 out of her £2,000 target.

You can read Kelly's story and donate through her Just Giving page here .