Why set yourself the challenge of TWO marathons in 24 hours? Because if it was easy, everyone would do it.

And so two young Haybridge High School pupils battled torrential rain and exhaustion to raise almost £3,000 – and rising – for the stroke association.

Falan Priest, from Broome, and Maddie Haskins from Clent set out at 10am on their double marathon challenge, running in bursts of two to three miles and then taking breaks, so that they could clock up 52.6 miles before 10am the next day.

The girls, aged 16 and 17, organised the run themselves but were helped on the day by a small army of family and friends who ran with them part of the way or supported them through the mud, the hill climbs and the stops.

There was mum Donna Malone and dad Ian, plus Maddie’s parents Elaine and Jamie.

Donna gave special praise to youngsters Jimmy Ostle and Billy Papworth who volunteered to do the hard yards of running through the night to help the weary girls reach the finishing line.

But there were many others who also joined in.

The girls were helped by the fact that Falan is a keen runner and Maddie is a swimmer.

Money raised goes to the Stroke Association.

Falan’s grandad died of a stroke and the father of one of their schoolfriends was struck down as well.

To donate go to: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/falanandmaddie24hrsrun

And what do you do after two marathons in one day? A bit of sleep on a day off and then back to school the next day.