A smashing start to Leslie’s training

But after £4K of dentist work she’s running on

A Bridge of Allan woman has overcome the odds to take to the starting line of the Stirling Marathon.

Leslie Hunter suffered a horror injury whilst out pounding the roads in preparation for Sunday’s first Stirling Scottish Marathon.

She tripped over a speed bump and smashed her teeth.

Leslie (48), who is the co-owner of Frances Hunter Hairdressing in Stirling and Alloa, opted to sign up for the race, despite having no previous running experience.

She has enlisted the help of her cousin, Darren Junnior (42), who lives in Holland and who she hasn’t seen for 22 years.

Leslie came up with the idea of signing up for the race with a group of friends. But when they fell away one by one, Leslie opted to keep a promise to the charity she had promised to run the race for.

Leslie has been hard at work raising cash for the Eilidh Brown Memorial Fund, creating her Just Giving page to raise money online as well as having collection tins at the salon’s in Stirling and Alloa.

She was left with a massive £4,000 dental bill to repair the damage she suffered in the fall, but she hasn’t let that put her off taking part in the race.

Speaking to the Observer, Leslie said: “On April 7 I tripped over a speed bump and smashed all my teeth in. It was really bad and I’ve racked up a big dentist bill to get implants.

“But I had already committed to running the race for the Eilidh Brown Memorial Fund and I really didn’t want to let them down.

“When you have given your word to someone it makes it harder to go back on it so I’m just plodding on and I’m going to do the race.

“I’ve never done anything like this before so I’m really nervous. I’ve always exercised, but never to do anything like this.

“I’ve been following the Stirling Marathon 16 week training plan. In April I did 165 miles so it’s been hard work. “I’m nervous and excited about it.” Leslie has opted to raise the money for the charity for a tree house for the Eilidh Brown Memorial Fund which hopes to create a respite house for families needing a break.

She set herself a target of raising £3,000 but has already raised more than £3,800 and looks set to break the £4,000 marker by the time the races comes and goes.

Stirling schoolgirl Eilidh Brown died from cancer in March 2010 – at the age of just 15.

Her family set up the fund with the aim of building a respite holiday home for young people and their families who have been touched by cancer, in Eilidh’s memory.

Leslie now wants to complete the course and says she is motivated to do so thanks to public support.

She said: “The community support has been amazing.

“The most I think I’ve ever ran is about three miles and training for this has taken up most of my time so I’d really like to complete it.”

She will be cheered on from the roadside by her children, Monica (22), Hannah (18) and Florence (6).

She is getting set to unwind following the mammoth challenge at the Royal Hotel in Bridge of Allan where she is hoping that other competitors will join her.