CHILDREN put on a sprinting show of support for their teacher yesterday as she prepares to tackle the London Marathon.

The Croft Primary School teaching assistant Karen Owen will run the iconic marathon next month and primary school pupils showed their dedication by joining her for an unusual training session.

During eight half-hour sessions the children took it in turns to run laps of the playground alongside Karen, with each class clocking up an impressive 2.3 miles in their individual slots.

Even Karen’s five-year-old daughter Emily got in on the running action by joining her mum for a fun run.

The youngsters, who donned their running gear and trainers to give Karen a run for her money, jumped head-first into training.

Karen, 35, said: “It was great to run with the children because they are so motivational. They keep saying ‘go on Mrs Owen’ or ‘I’m beating you’ and they really get into it.

“It keeps you going to have that motivation and I can tell that they are enjoying it too.

“Anyone can do it. It’s fun, it’s a great way of keeping in shape and everyone can get involved.”

All 237 pupils took part in the exercise with hopes of running an overall 16 miles throughout the day.

And it there was certainly no rest for Karen at lunchtime as she swapped circuits of the playground for a loop of the school grounds with her fellow staff members.

This will be Karen’s first attempt at the London marathon although she has honed her craft in half marathons. She has already raised £400 for children’s charity, the NSPCC.

Karen said: “I do feel a bit nervous about the marathon now because it is getting very close now. It really is just around the corner so I’m getting the miles up now and I really hope I have a good race.

“This is great because every bit of practice helps.”

Year one teacher Sophie Bower, who works alongside Karen, came up with the novel idea of getting the kids involved on the training session.

She said: “The kids have all been really excited about today and they have been supporting Karen the entire way. We always try and encourage the children to be active and they are really getting into it today.”

Karen can be sponsored here www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Karen-Owen2017