A "slow starter" runner made up for time when she pounded out a half marathon for charity.

Elsie Barrenger, of Sydney Street, Brightlingsea, took two hours 50 minutes to tot up £1,263 in sponsorship in the Great North run from Newcastle to South Shields - a rate of about £100-a-mile.

She has donated the cash to the breast care unit at Essex Rivers Healthcare Trust after being treated for breast cancer herself in 1997.

The 55-year-old gran started running when she was 40.

"I suppose I am a bit of a late starter," she said.

Triumph after adversity - Elsie Barrenger presents the proceeds of her half-marathon to Fiona MacNeill, Consultant Breast Surgeon at Lexden Road Hospital, only a few years after being treated for breast cancer

Picture: STEVE BRADING

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