Could Kelly's marathon be this year's ice bucket challenge?

Kelly Williams, 40, plans to complete the equivalent of 26 marathons in as many days, despite only having run one before. She will complete the mileage by a combination of walking, running and completing her daily delivery round in Wilsden, near Bradford.

Miss Williams will post a daily diary on to social media sites and issue challenges to friends and celebrities to complete their own marathons.

She said: “I’m hoping that if a couple celebrities bite, the whole thing may go viral in the same way as the ice bucket challenge.”

The 2014 phenomenon saw millions of people accepting challenges to tip buckets of iced water over one another.

Miss Williams hopes to raise £60,000 to help a friend in Argentina who is suffering from complications of Lyme disease, which she contracted in Britain.

She will finish the challenge on Sunday, July 23 with a public fund-raising event at Roberts Park in Saltaire, in which other runners and walkers can take part.

She said: “I’ve only done one running marathon, and it was in Peru in scorching heat. The challenge this time will be keep­ing up the distance every day.”

Her website is at www.spreadalittlesunshine.org.