A 45-YEAR-old East Cornwall endurance runner has just achieved 50 marathons — but she won't stop until she reaches the 100 milestone.

Sharon Daw from Sevenstones recently completed the Cornish Marathon, which was her 50th event since she started marathon running in 1994.

A dairy farmer and mother-of-two, Sharon has travelled all over the country running but she admits she did not take to the sport straight away.

'My first one was a walking marathon called the Tor View Walk at Bridestowe. I never did any training but I ran and walked it and did it in five-and-three-quarter hours,' she said.

'I did not enjoy it much but the following year I entered the London Marathon and that was it. I found out that long races were my thing — if I did a short race, it was over before I was even warmed up.

Sharon has run the London marathon six times and has been in the top five in most of the races she has taken part in.

Among her greatest achievements are coming second in the Edinburgh marathon in 2006 when everyone was 'dropping like flies through heatstroke', winning the 2009/2010 Endurance Coastal Series, and being the first in the 35 and over category to run a sub three hours 15 minutes race in the Cardiff marathon in 2005. She is also the first British female to complete the Norsman Extreme Ironman contest in Norway — despite suffering from hypothermia.

But it is not just about the running. Sharon has raised thousands of pounds for charities including the Red Cross and Cystic Fibrosis and the regular car boot sales at her farm have aided these fundraising efforts.

'Running keeps me sane because I find the farmwork very stressful,' she said.

'The worse thing is getting home from a tough run and then having to do the milking.'

With inherited high blood pressure, Sharon uses running as a way of keeping it under control, refusing to take medication.

She said marathon running was all about determination and being focussed and driven: 'There are highs and lows but it is important not to give up. I am constantly pushing myself and I really enjoy the hard marathons — the tougher the better.

'Running is a great motivator for other things. I found when I was doing an Open University course at home that I could study better once I had been running because my oxygen level were high.'

Sharon said her aim had been to reach 50 marathons by the time she was 50 but now she was upping the anti: 'Well, I am 45 now so it would be great to reach 100 marathons by the time I am 50 — that's 10 marathons a year.'