THREE fit nurses from Stourbridge's Mary Stevens Hospice are preparing to pound the streets in this Sunday's Great Birmingham Run.

The tireless trio will be tackling the 13-mile course while attempting to raise funds to help buy specialist mattresses for the Hagley Road hospice at the same time.

Nursing sister Rachael Hayward will be joined by colleagues Karen Pardoe and Rachel Finlayson who all work at the in-patients unit.

They would have been joined by the hospice's head of nursing Claire Towns who hatched up the idea, but she ripped her ankle tendons while training and was forced to pull out.

Claire said: "It was a spur of the moment decision while we all sat in a jacuzzi. None of us have ever run before, but we all committed ourselves to take part as a team and we all started a 30-week training programme.

"As nurses, we are all passionate about the difference we can make to people's lives through the care we give at the hospice."

The intrepid trio won't be on their own.

They will be joined in Birmingham by fundraising assistant Georgina Lawrence, who only completed the Chester Marathon last weekend.

The hospice will also have another ten of its supporters taking part.

They will all be trying to raise a total of £30,000 through sponsorship to help obtain the mattresses, which cost £3,000 each, for the hospice's in-patient unit.

Anyone wishing to support the nurses can do so by going to www.justgiving.com/Rachel-Finlayson