A year ago a mother-of-three had just finished her first marathon but when she returns to the event in Brighton on Sunday it will be her 43rd.

Kirsty Winwood from Gillingham is also running 40 marathons this year, so by the end of 2016 the 40-year-old will have run almost 90 in total.

She said: “I really enjoyed Brighton last year and I’d lost my mum in the January to cancer so I thought what can I do, I need to do something for my mum. So I decided on 40 marathons.”

Her mother, Mary Falkner, passed away at the age of 68 after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of kidney cancer just three months earlier.

Last year, Mrs Winwood took part in 40 events in the lead up to her 40th birthday as well as to raise awareness of Parkinson’s disease.

Mrs Winwood, who runs with Medway Fit, is also using the marathons to train for the 100km Thames Path challenge in September.

She said: “I do take them pretty slowly and steady. I don’t push myself, I don’t try to race everyone.

“It’s great fun, I like the social side of the runs and meeting inspirational people - the more you do these things, the more people you meet who are doing crazier things than you.”

Her youngest children, Elliot, 11, and Grace, six, will be cheering her on on Sunday but she said she has let her eldest, David, 14, off as he is playing in an important football match.