TWENTY years after she took part in her first marathon and vowed she would never do it again, Sharon Daw from Sevenstones is now celebrating her 100th event. The gruelling Roseland August Trial around the Roseland Peninsula in Cornwall on August 16 was Sharon's centenary marathon, a milestone she did not ever expect to reach. 'Once I started running marathons and got addicted to it, I set myself a target to do 50 marathons by the time I got to 50,' she said. 'I'm 48 now and have done 100 and I have no plans to stop yet.' Sharon said although she had to be fit to be a farmer and milk cows, which was her day job, she signed up for her first marathon because she liked a challenge. 'I was a bit out of condition really but I trained and I did it. I felt terrible and hated it and said never again but then a friend persuaded me to do the Cornish Marathon. 'He pulled out at Jamaica Inn and I ended up finishing it on my own.' Before long Sharon was running more marathons but she said it wasn't until she had children, Xavia, now 15 and Austin, 14, that she really started to find her feet! 'I think once you have children you go through a certain pain barrier and now I like the longer distances. I find the short one more painful. 'I found I really started to enjoy running, being out in the countryside and listening to the birds. 'Now if I don't run for a few days I start getting quite grumpy — my husband says "for goodness sake, go for a run!" Sharon found she was good at endurance events and took part in Ironman competitions. She was the first British woman to enter the Norseman Extreme Ironman event in Norway, being tested to the limit by cycling 124 miles and running a marathon. 'I got hypothermia and it took me 17 hours to complete,' she said. 'We spent two hours just cycling up one of the hills. It was really tough.' Other challenges of stamina were the 44-miler around The Lizard and Land's End and The Dartmoor Discovery three years ago, when the weather was so hot the tarmac melted and the skin came off the bottom of Sharon's feet. 'This happened pretty early on in the marathon and it was sheer agony, but I kept going until the finish.' she said. 'My feet became infected and I had to go to hospital. I had to soak them in Iodine all week, I couldn't walk. 'I went back the next year because I had a score to settle,' she added with a smile. Sharon admitted that running eased the stress from her life as a farmer: 'Farming is a 24-7 job and there are a lot of sleepless nights and worry. 'I sort out a lot of problems when I am out running and when I compete it helps make me more determined and motivated as a person. 'Running inspires me and I hope that I inspire other people by doing it.' Sharon has won numerous marathons and had a personal best at the London Marathon in 2005 of three hours and five minutes. As well as her own personal satisfaction and success from running, Sharon has raised around £20,000 for various charities such as Children's Hospice South West, the British Heart Foundation, the British Red Cross and the Devon Air Ambulance. There are still challenges to complete for the runner. She said: 'I have never done a back-to-back marathon or 24-hour marathon. 'I also wanted to do a marathon that began with each letter of the alphabet but I still have to find ones that begin with X and Z. 'Running has become a bit of an obsession with me — a few days after I have completed one I get a bit of a downer and so start planning the next one. '­I don't think I'll be giving up yet!'