THE youngest competitor of this year’s Swindon Half Marathon decided to take on one of the biggest challenges of her life after being inspired by her running-enthusiast dad.

Sophie Tune, who lives in North Swindon, will turn 16 next week – just in time (and the right age) to participate in the newly-relaunched event come September.

And now the teenager is hard at work in training for the 13.1 mile course alongside her dad Michael who is no stranger to running the distance, having run 10 marathons.

“My dad is a huge runner and I think I have inherited my love of it from him," the former Isambard Community School pupil said.

“It was when I was 13 that I first started to get into running and when I heard about the Swindon Half Marathon I thought it seemed like a good challenge to try.

“I’ve always wanted to do a half marathon and I initially set myself the challenge of doing a 10 mile run in Portsmouth in October but when I learnt that the age to compete is 16, I thought it was a great idea to do the race in my hometown."

Sophie, who trains around six days a week, often goes out running with her dad Michael and the pair have made a tradition of going out for a five mile run every Friday.

The duo hope to cross the finish line together in a time of one hour 50 minutes.

“When I told my dad that I wanted to take part, he was really happy about it," Sophie added. "I did my first Park Run when I was 11 and I did it in 49 minutes. I was pleased to get that considering I had never done any running before but now I've knocked off half of my time and I can complete it in around 22 minutes.

“The thought of taking part in the half marathon is quite nerve-racking but I can’t wait to do it now because it is such a big challenge for me."

This year, the Swindon Half Marathon takes runners on a flatter and faster route, taking in many of Swindon’s best-known landmarks including the County Ground, the BMW plant, the Magic Roundabout as well as Nationwide’s HQ in Pipers Way.

The big race has proven to be a big hit with the town since entries first opened at the start of the year with around 2,100 people signed up already - with Sophie hoping that more teenagers follow in her footsteps.

“Running is a huge part of my life and I would like to get more teenagers involved," the youngster said.

"During exams season, I never stopped running as it took my mind off of the stresses of taking the exams in the first place. It is a good way to escape so I think more people should get involved in running and the race in general.

“The prospect of running that distance, you do go through a lot of emotions and when doing the 10 mile training sessions, I get to eight miles and I really struggle. But no matter how much I want to give up, I keep reminding myself how much I want to complete it and so I just push on through which is what I’m hoping I’ll do on the day.”

Sophie will be complete the race just in time of her studies having secured a place at Cirencester College to study A Levels in French, Spanish and Business.