A WARRINGTON podiatrist has run a distance event once a month for 10 months to raise money for Alzheimer’s society – and will complete a marathon to celebrate turning 50 in December.

Carole Webster, 49, is a Warrington-based podiatrist who took on the mammoth charity running challenge after a conversation with a friend in which they told them how much ‘they were dreading turning 50’.

“I was thinking, I’m turning 50 in December, what can I do to really make me look forward to it?” Carole said.

The Warrington podiatrist began her charity Odyssey this year by completing the GB Ultras Half marathon in Liverpool on New Year’s Eve, as well as New Year’s Day. Just 15 days later, she completed another half marathon on a trail in Delamere.

This has continued every month of this year with a different long-distance challenge monthly.

This has culminated in perhaps her most difficult challenge taking place in November, the penultimate month of the challenge.

This month, Carole is completing a 5-kilometre run every single day – as well as a 10-kilometre race she ran on November 12.

Across the entirety of the challenges this year, including the 155 kilometers this month alone, Carole will have run 587 kilometers this year.

To put this into context, that is 365 miles, one for each day of the year, or the equivalent of running to Germany from London, or running from Warrington to Glastonbury – and back.

This challenge has been a familial affair though, with Carole’s close-knit family supporting her every step of the way.

“My dad’s been a big support through this, he’s in his 70s now and he’s still running,” Carole said, “I remember when I was younger going along to watch my dad race, and that’s what really encouraged me to start going to some running events.”

As well as this, Carole has been joined by her 19-year-old son, Ethan Leeder for one of the races, and has been joined on multiple runs by her husband who she said has been ‘bag holder and general cheerleader throughout the year’.

She said: “They’ve just been really, really great. On the days where I’m not feeling like getting out, and feeling really tired, they have just been reminding me why I’m doing this and pushing me out the door!”

Though Carole has been lucky enough to have no family members with dementia, she says that her choice of charity is inspired by her work as a podiatrist.

Carole said: “A lot of my patients have Alzheimer’s, often they’ll come to the clinic every six to eight weeks.

“You just watch them transition from first diagnosis and then regression will take place, and I just feel there are some breakthroughs to be had to help these people. To help their quality of life and help people understand how to react to them.

“There’s a lot of misunderstanding about Alzheimer’s and Dementia because it’s quite an emotional topic.”

Carole has so far raised almost £500 and will be running her final race of the challenge, a marathon in Lanzarote, on December 2.

Donations can be made at the link below:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/carolewebster?fbclid=IwAR0Yvf2fIMkcQbZSkDfUvAf4F1xWrI18xu172LYLnqoMz3Ow1kGpGWtJ_tQ