Furnace resident Lesley Lewis has finished a fundraising campaign on a high after completing the Xterra Snowdonia Ultra Marathon, which saw her run through the ‘incredible’ Snowdonia countryside and up Wales’ tallest mountain, writes Alex Bowen.

Mrs Lewis has spent the last few months completing a series of running challenges, which started with her running 104 miles in commemoration of the 104 weeks since 12-year-old Frank, the figure for the BeMoreFrank charity, passed away.

The pilates instructor went on to compete in the 36 mile Xterra Snowdonia Ultra Marathon.

Her fundraising efforts over the last months raised £625. Over two years of funding, the 52-year-old has raised over £3,000.

Mrs Lewis was one of 186 people to run the ultra marathon. Despite the nine pounds of kit on her back, she was the 10th fastest woman out of the 30 who took part, finishing the race in nine hours and two minutes.

She said: “The Xterra ultra marathon was hugely challenging because of the elevation, we climbed 8,000 feet in total. There was an added challenge to me because I was racing against other people, which I’ve never done before.

“It was a brilliant experience to run alongside the other racers. There was so much camaraderie - joking and chatting away. It’s so nuts because you meet all these amazing people, and then move on, it makes you quite sad.

“The climb up to Pen y Pass was pretty brutal, you’re approaching the end of the run but you’ve still got all of Snowdon to climb, I’m just glad I made it. There were people who stopped for a rest, but I was thinking ‘if I sit down I’m going to need airlifting off of here.

“Not bad for the girl who was always one of the last to be picked for sports teams at school, and who practically had a panic attack on The Precipice Walk three years ago.”