A MONMOUTH woman, who until last month had never even run four miles on a treadmill, is currently training to run alongside Olympic hero Matthew Pinsent in the London Marathon.

For Helen Fergusson-Kelly, 42, has been accepted on to The Times team to run the 26.2-mile race on April 23, which also features four-time gold medallist Pinsent.

Helen is one of 30 people across the UK on the team, chosen from 1,000 applicants for their mixed abilities and geographic locations.

But Helen, who lives in The Hendre, confesses that even now she still does not actually enjoy running.

She said: "I saw the invitation in the paper to run the marathon with Matthew Pinsent, and, even though I don't enjoy running in the slightest, I like a challenge so thought I'd give it a go.

"I e-mailed the competition and found out a few days later that I was in and had to go to London for a check-up and training brief.

"We also did a six-mile run that day, which was sneakily extended to 7.2 miles, and that was as far as I had ever run."

Helen admits that she is an athletic individual, who enjoys circuit training and keeps fit at Simone's Gym, in Monmouth. She still does not like running, but is motivated to stick to her training by the prospect of standing on the celebrity start line.

She said: "When I turned 40, I did the Moonwalk, a marathon walk at night for Breast Cancer Research, and then I went backpacking for a year. I was looking for my next challenge and thought I'd do a public one.

"We've each been given a training programme and I'm up to running ten miles now and doing fartlek sessions on the treadmill.

"I'm also planning on doing the Forest of Dean Half Marathon in March, which will be good preparation for the big day."