RUNNING one marathon in aid of Great Ormond Street wasn’t enough for big-hearted Esme Cottier.

Instead, the 27-year-old now has 30 races, from 5ks, 10ks, half marathons and full marathons, under her belt all in aid of the London children’s hospital.

Now she hopes to add to that number in the next year – all the while raising £10,000 to help sick children.

Esme, who works at Nationwide, first started fundraising for GOSH three years ago after her then-boyfriend had personal experience with the hospital as a child.

Inspired to help, Esme set about doing runs for GOSH and set herself the challenging target of raising £10,000. So far, she has managed to raise £4,000.

Despite breaking up with her boyfriend of eight years, she is still determined to carry on fundraising for the charity by lacing up her trainers at every possible opportunity.

“Great Ormond Street is a really important place and I was lucky enough to get invited to visit the hospital a few months ago,” she said.

“It was when I came over the finishing line of the Brighton marathon I vowed to never run again but after I visited GOSH, I couldn’t concentrate at work and I just had to have a little cry. Not because it was sad at all but because of what they do there. Everything is designed for the children. From the height of the paintings on the wall to everything else, it is all thought out with them in mind. I saw a tiny little baby come out of the operating theatre and it broke my heart because I thought of the family and the doctors and the nurses and it made me say to myself I have to keep fundraising.

“My ex-boyfriend Ben and I were together for five years before I thought about fundraising for GOSH. As a child, he was really ill and his mum was a nurse but she felt no one was listening to her. In the end she went to GOSH and within half an hour he was in intensive care and it was thanks to them that he’s still alive.

“As much as we have broken up, we still remain friends and I thought I have had eight happy years with him and GOSH still doing amazing work so why not carry on fundraising.”

Over the next 12 months, Esme will be taking on challenges of epic proportions by climbing Mount Kilimanjaro as well as trying to compete in yet another London Marathon and Brighton Marathon within a week of one another.

In between her runs, she will also be getting creative selling her handmade Christmas cards at a number of craft fairs – with all proceeds going towards the hospital.

Esme added: “I know £10,000 is probably quite a small amount given what they do but to see what a difference they make to the children’s lives makes it all worth it.

“I was one of those people who made excuses at school about not doing exercise and one day I just thought I would go do something about it.

“I started running after I put my name down for a 5k race and since then I’ve just built on that.

“Every time I have done a marathon, I have vowed never to do it again but now I’ll soon be training for my fourth and fifth.

“I love running for a purpose and knowing that training will be helping me in a race to raise money.”

To donate, visit http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/EsmeCottier