Catherine Davis of Grantham Running Club takes part in the Oakley 20 near Bedford

Catherine Davis had her stamina tested when she opted to take part in the Oakley 20 near Bedford.

The start line was on a field which was nearly two laps before runners headed out on the road to Pavenham.

A right turn at Pavenham took the field out on the larger loop into the Bedfordshire countryside where they were faced with a couple of wicked hills through the villages of Felmersham and Chellington before reaching the loop that was completed twice.

There was then another testing incline before heading to the two bridges that signalled runners were close to Oakley.

Running past the finish on the next loop, the Grantham Running Club members knew her time was well down as the lead bike overtook her and the first man home swept into the finishing straight.

However, Davis dug deep for the remaining 7.5 miles, this time going through Pavenham and meeting the point where the run routes join took the field back to Oakley.

She said: "I felt better than the previous week at the 16-mile point but one hill felt as though I was going backwards as I got overtaken.

"However, I made up some time and a few overtakes to reach the finish line in a disappointing three hours, nine minutes and two seconds but I was so glad there weren't any more miles to run."