A BRADFORD woman is urging people taking part in the Great North Run to support a charity close to her heart.

Sara Greenwood, 33, from Harden, completed the half-marathon event three years ago to raise money for national charity Heart Research UK.

She took part after her daughter, Lauren, now three, had open heart surgery when she was just ten days old.

Now Ms Greenwood is asking people who are taking part in the race, in Newcastle on September 11,  to raise money for Heart Research UK.

She said of the run: “It was a fantastic experience which I will remember for the rest of my life.

“I did the run in 2013 and it was a fantastic event to take part in. I’ve done a lot of runs in the past but this was the best.

“It was tough and took some training prior to the event, but running for a charity close to my heart helped me to carry on putting one foot in front of the other.

“I joined the Heart Research UK team because they gave me a lot of support when Lauren needed the surgery, and it meant a lot to me to run the Great North and raise money for Heart Research UK.”

Lauren was born with a coarctation of the aorta, which is when there is a narrowing in the main artery in the body near the heart, at the aortic arch, meaning the heart has to work harder to pump blood to the lower part of the body.

Lauren is doing well now, but still has to go for yearly check-ups and will probably need more surgery when she is a teenager.

“It affects about one in a thousand babies, but Lauren’s was quite severe because she was born with a hole in her heart as well,” said Ms Greenwood.

“We found Heart Research UK really good when it happened, they gave us a lot of information as it was something we had never heard of, so they gave us something to read so we could digest what was going on.

“The charity cheered me around the streets, and gave me tremendous support throughout the months and weeks running up to the event, offering training and nutrition advice, as well as fundraising tips and ideas.

“Before I had my children I did the Leeds half marathon in one hour 45 minutes, and I got round the Great North Run in one hour 37 minutes which was an added bonus.”

Now Ms Greenwood is trying to encourage other people to get involved and raise money for the charity.

She runs her own personal training clinic in Harden, and said she has been encouraging her clients to put on their running shoes.

“I’ve got some of my customers running it, and I have said I will do it again if they need more numbers.”

To register for the Great North Run in aid of Heart Research UK, visit the ‘events’ section at heartresearch.org.uk, email community@heartresearch.org.uk, or call 0113 234 7474.