A BENARTY woman has almost completed her latest challenge of running a 5k for 100 days to raise money for a local foodbank.

Karen Hunter decided to do the challenge in late last year and since November 30, has been running 5km every single day regardless of the weather.

The keen runner is looking to raise at least £300 for Benarty foodbank after seeing how much help it needs on a regular basis.

Speaking to the Times, Karen said: “I started on the final day of November and started running Marcothon (running 5km a day throughout December) to give me a focus and it just went from there.

“In October 2020 I ran the Virtual 2020 London Marathon and this helped me to raise my goad of £2000 for my Charity Phab Kids.

“I have been a volunteer at the foodbank for a couple of years now and have seen the extent of hunger and food poverty amongst families and individuals in the area.

“There was already a need to support communities with food support, however Covid has impacted much worse.

“In this day and age nobody should have to suffer hunger, however it has been an issue which continues to affect the most vulnerable.

“I wanted to raise a couple hundred pounds to help and finish on March 9.”

The hardest part for Karen, naturally, is the difficult weather during the winter months – especially given the period of snow and ice that Fife had last month.

Not to be discouraged, however, Karen still managed to get out, even running back and forth at the snow-cleared entrance of Lochore Meadows to make sure she did not miss a day.

Aside from raising money and the physical benefits, Karen said getting out and getting her 5km every day has been great for her mental health.

She said: “It’s hard juggling everything with working from home and home schooling, so it has been good to get out and enjoy the fresh air. It has made such a big difference.

“I always tell people to make sure they get out, even if it’s just a walk around the block, it will make a difference.”

Following the current challenge, Karen will once again start to build up her distance running ahead of this year’s postponed London Marathon which is scheduled to take place in October.

To donate to Karen’s fundraiser, go to https://tinyurl.com/2zv32nu8.