Twenty runners are taking part in a 24-hour relay run around Lutterworth

Twenty gutsy runners are taking part in a 24-hour relay run around Lutterworth this weekend.

Five socially-distanced teams of four will set off from SB Health and Fitness gym on Leicester Road, Lutterworth, at 10am on Saturday morning (September 19).

And the runners will finally finish back at the community-friendly gym at 10am on Sunday morning after completing the epic event.

Sylvia Price, 58, an instructor at the gym, is competing in the incredible muscle-sapping day-and-night challenge as well as helping to stage it.

“We’re all really looking forward to taking part.

“It’s going to be very tough but we can’t wait to take it on,” said Sylvia, of Husbands Bosworth.

“The runners are all members of our gym, both men and women, and are aged all the way through from 17-66.

“The oldest will be my husband Mike Price!

“He’s just ran a virtual Great North Run so he’s in good shape.

“We are going to run a fairly flat 4.5-mile course on well-lit roads around Lutterworth.

“We’ll start and finish at our gym and clock up as many miles as we can.

“There’s a real sense of camaraderie and togetherness among all of us runners.

“It’s certainly going to be very interesting running all night as well as all day.”

The mum-of-two, who’s been running for about five years, is using the 24-hour lung-buster to help prepare for tackling the virtual 26.2-mile London Marathon on Sunday October 4.

“I’ll be running from Welland Park in Market Harborough – where I do the Park Run – through the villages to here in Husbands Bosworth.

“I’ll then continue through the villages between here and Lutterworth,” said Sylvia, who has a daughter Catherine, 30, and son Steve, 28.

“I’m setting out to raise over £2,000 for Guide Dogs for the Blind, a brilliant cause, and I’ve already collected about 65 per cent of that.”

She said hardcore long-distance specialist Stu Humber, who owns the gym, is pounding out the miles this weekend as he gears up to run a world-famous endurance race called the 6633ultra.

“Stu was due to race it in Canada in February but he’s now got to run it virtually over here in March.

“He’ll have to pull a sled carrying all his supplies behind him for over nine days and cover over 300 miles.

“It’s totally bonkers,” smiled Sylvia.

“Stu’s aiming to notch up over 100 miles this weekend so he’s really going for it.

“He’s also planning to run alongside me when I do the London Marathon to support me – and that will be great.

“Stu might be mad but he’s got a heart as big as a lion and you’ve got to admire his sheer courage!”