A FORMER Ledbury lady has settled on a gruelling way to visit family and friends in her old home town, - she will run five marathons in five days, for two charities dear to her heart.

Hayley Presley, a former pupil of both Ledbury Primary and the John Masefield High School, now lives in Chester, and she admits that the 131 mile journey back to Ledbury is something she'd much rather do by car.

But Miss Presley, aged 29, is a keen runner, - having already tackled several marathons and half-marathons, and she has personal reasons for wanting to pound the road for the multiple-marathon challenge.

The two charities to benefit will be St Michael's Hospice, Bartestree, and the Huntingtons disease charity, Merseyside.

Huntingtons disease is a genetic disorder that affects muscle co-ordination and can lead to cognitive decline.

Miss Presley said: "Ledbury is where I was born and all family are still there. I visit regularly to see my family.

"I have chosen those two charities because St Michaels Hospice is where my nan was when she died, and the care and attention they gave her while she was there was amazing.

"Huntingtons is due to a very close friend, whose family are unfortunate in having Huntingtons within their family. There isn't a lot about Huntingtons and so I thought It would be good to also help them and raise some money for them. This money in turn will help the patients with things such as home care, items to help them cope with Huntingtons and general support from the charity. "

Miss Presley, who will set out from Chester on June 14, also has a personal motive for putting herself through the landmark ordeal.

She said: "Why am I doing this - why not? I love to run and I had planned to do something like this to mark my 30th birthday, next year, but I figured why wait? I love to run now and I am fit an able so lets do it!

"This is a completely self organised challenge.My main aim for this challenge is to raise as much as I can for the two charities.Training has already begun for this and a lot of people ask how do I plan to train. To be honest I had no real set plan other than learn to run long distances and do them back to back."

Anyone wishing to offering sponsor ship, or seeking further information, can log on to

http://presley5in5.webs.com/ or an on line giving page at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/HayleyPresley