A month of marathons, early starts and a van full of snacks has raised more than £22,000 for a charity supporting seriously ill children.

“Life is precious, and it’s beautiful, and I’m so proud and privileged to be an ambassador for this beautiful charity,” Bird said.

Charity CEO Amy Chambers said: “It’s a staggering amount of money; it will grant several wishes for seriously ill children.”

Bird told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire’s Dotty McLeod the opening stretch was tougher than she expected.

“I was thinking that the last week to 10 days would be the hardest, but it was actually the first week to 10 days.

“I think that was just my body trying to fight what I was doing.”

She said the running became easier as she adapted to the routine, despite taking on the challenge during one of the hottest Mays on record.

“We can’t be halfway through a marathon at 30C, 32C, so we would start very early in the morning, start at 06:30 in the mornings when it was so hot,” Bird said.

On cooler days, she set off at 09:00, and on Saturdays and Sundays at 09:30.

The environmental consultant said she craved sugar and ate large amounts of sweets, fizzy drinks and ice cream.

She said support from her friends Lucy and Pippa, her husband Chris, who followed her in a van with food and drinks, and people in St Ives “has just been unbelievable”.

The challenge came two years after Bird became the first woman to run the London Marathon with a fridge on her back.

Rays of Sunshine supports seriously ill children aged three to 18 by granting wishes ranging from being a firefighter for a day to meeting their favourite celebrity. The charity works closely with hospitals including Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge.

“A wish is not just nice to have, it is a vital part of a child’s journey through their treatment when they’re diagnosed with a very serious illness,” Chambers said.

“And it goes far greater than that… into providing them with a sense of community.”

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