BARBARA Thackray, a gran from Altrincham, took her first race in her stride at the ripe age of 77.

She even managed to collect a prize for her age group in the Trafford 10k Run after finishing in a creditable time of one hour 24 minutes.

Barbara, raised £370 in the process for St Ann's Hospice for whom her fundraising exploits have been more of a marathon.

Indeed, she has supported the charity for the last 27 years since sister Audrey Humphreys died aged 56.

Three generations of Barbara's family took part in the run through the lanes near Dunham Massey and no fewer than 15 relatives and friends, all fellow competitors, were on hand to cheer her home.

Barbara, a retired college lecturer, said: "I've done a lot of walking but this was my first run. I've tried to get into the London marathon before now but never succeeded, though I suppose I'm a bit long in the tooth for that now.

"We did the run in honour of my sister and I knew about the wonderful work of St Ann's even before she was a patient there in 1988. I've helped the hospice ever since and this was a great family event and I'm certainly going to enter the run again."