Arthur Deaton (71), Hazel Brewin (58) and Rosa Beckerton (54) are all members of city running club Werrington Joggers, and prove that age is no barrier to getting involved in the city’s half-marathon.

Mr Deaton, of Foxcovert Road, Werrington, Peterborough, has been running for more than 25 years after being persuaded by his daughter to join her for a jog in the local park.

Since then he has competed in countless half-marathons and marathons, including the Great North Run and London Marathon. This year he will be raising vital funds for Childline.

He said: “I think it’s important to keep active, because you just feel better in yourself and it means I can play with the grandchildren.”

Ms Brewin, from Gunthorpe, Peterborough, will be competing in only her second Great Eastern Run.

She started as a complete novice in 2006 with Werrington Joggers, doing a run a minute/walk a minute routine. She has now received an entry to next year's London Marathon and is using the Great Eastern Run as a stepping stone.

She said: “I remember standing by Brookside Church, in Gunthorpe, in the ’80s and cheering people running the half marathon and thought I could never do that. But a girl can dream, and so, when Peterborough City Council re-instated the Great Eastern Run in 2006, I decided I wanted to be a part of it.”

Mrs Beckerton, of Oundle Road, Orton Longueville, Peterborough, is running to raise money for her son James, who slipped into a coma following a heart attack during an operation to clear a build-up of fluid on his heart.

James, who works for Fusion (part of the bgl group) is known to many people, not only through his karaoke business in Peterborough and Stilton, but as an active member of the Revellers Music and Dramatic Society.

Now his mum, with her son Jack, daughter Amy, and stepson Adam will compete in the Great Eastern Run along with a team from Barnet’s Hair and Body, to raise money for anything James needs to aid his recovery.

She said: “This has been a really difficult time for me and my family, but running has helped relieve the stress we have all been under since James first went into hospital.

“I really don’t think I could have carried on without the help of so many friends and the support I have received in training for the half-marathon from Werrington Joggers.”