Running. Bit of a love or hate one isn’t it? Either you enjoy pounding the pavements several times a week, soaking up the endorphins whilst letting your mind run free, or, you cried your way through that charity 5km and never, ever looked back.

Runners and coaches will tell you, running is a journey not a destination, but there’s a difference between taking a gentle jog along the Southbank and racing a gruelling 100km in the name of a medal. Are these women off their rockers? Or really, really inspiring? We chatted to four amazing ladies who’ve all completed extreme challenges, to find out what drives them, what inspires them to run further, and what it is that keeps them putting one foot in front of the other, and the other, and the other…