Kate, 45, of Newport, said: "I remember seeing early London Marathons on television as a child and thinking 26 miles was an impressive distance to run, but I'm not a natural athlete and I never dreamed I might be taking part one day.

"This is the 40th running of the London Marathon and Covid-19 has ensured it will be a truly unique race, with the elite athletes racing in London and the rest of us running wherever we're based."

Kate Young's Wessex Cancer Trust charity vest and London Marathon 2020 race number.

Kate, who has worked at the County Press for almost 25 years, started running in 2016 and gained an elusive ballot place for the 2020 London Marathon.

She said: "It's my first London Marathon and it has been a real rollercoaster of a year — I found out I had a place last October, so I started training for the marathon, which should have been on April 26.

"But then the event was postponed and lockdown meant I initially kept fit by running laps of my garden, because I have an auto-immune condition so I decided to stay safe and exercise at home as much as possible.

"It later became obvious the coronavirus crisis meant 45,000 runners would not be able to converge on London on October 4. But the organisers decided a virtual run on the same day would be possible and an official app was launched to ensure supporters can track runners — just as in previous London Marathons.

Kate said: "I'm really looking forward to Sunday. I am raising money for the Wessex Cancer Trust to support its Isle of Wight services and I am hoping to complete the marathon in around six hours.”

To sponsor Kate, or follow updates about her run, click here.