PUPILS at a Swindon primary school were so inspired by their marathon-running teacher that they decided to get in on the act themselves.

Robyn Bailey, 24, a Year One teacher at Mountford Manor Primary School in Walcot, is running the London marathon in April to raise money for Clic Sargent.

When the school heard about her sporting exploits they also wanted to get involved and on Friday they braved the chilly weather to put on their own playground marathon.

Robyn said: “Pretty much all the children have been sponsored to run, they’ve paid 50p to come in dressed in their sports clothes and we’ve got cake sales going on too.

“Every child in the school is running a distance and all the teachers are running with their classes as well.”

The youngest child taking part on the day was just two years old, all the year groups ran different distances according to their age.

Despite only having little legs, by the time all the pupils had completed their runs they had covered a staggering 366 miles, the equivalent of 14 marathons.

Together they raised an impressive £291 which will go towards Robyn’s personal fundraising target of £1,800.

Principal, Rachel Skates, said: “We are delighted that Mountford Manor Primary School children, staff and parents joined us today in helping to raise money for Miss Robyn Bailey our Year 1 teacher, who is completing the London Marathon in April.

“As a values based education school, the children have today shown, pride resilience, respect, tolerance and patience in completing this challenge and we are extremely proud of each and every one of them.

“Every child from the age of 2 to 11 has taken part in completing laps of the school perimeter which has equated, in total, to over 14 marathons.

“Miss Bailey is raising money for Clic Sargent who provide support for children with cancer. Today we have raised over £250 in donations from selling cakes and refreshments with sponsorship money still to come.

“Thank you also to our fund raising committee who have also supported this event.”

Robyn is not a complete running novice, she has been running half marathons for a few years and wanted to push herself to a greater distance.

However when she crosses the line on April 24 she will have an extra reason to celebrate:

“The marathon is actually on my birthday this year, when I saw that I thought why not - what better time to do it.

“The training hasn’t been easy - I’ll be ready by the day but it’s definitely had its hurdles along the way.”

Talking about her chosen cause, Robyn said: “Obviously being a teacher I was adamant I wanted to run for a children’s charity.

“Also knowing lots of people that have been affected by cancer I thought Clic was definitely the one I wanted to run with.”

To contribute to Robyn’s marathon fundraising efforts, you can visit http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/RobynBailey