‘Just a jog’ of 10k before woman helps brother with transplant

Jane Batty was the first woman to cross the finish line in the race in Dronfield, near Sheffield – but that afternoon she was at Sheffield’s Northern General Hospital ready for the procedure.

The 45-year-old, who lives in Paris and works for EuroDisney, has run marathons all over the world, including Barcelona, Chicago, Vienna, London and New York, but said she decided not to tell surgeons she was running the 10k.

“I simply asked the doctors if it was OK if I went for a short jog,” she said. “It seemed wise not to say I was running a 10k. I was delighted because I was the first woman to finish. I collected my medal, got my breath back and went straight to the hospital.”

Ms Batty is the second person in the family to help her brother, who has had kidney problems since he was nine. Her father Colin donated one of his kidneys 17 years ago but that had also started to fail.

Mr Batty, who lives in Chesterfield, said: “Jane is incredibly fit and was determined to run the 10k. I’m so grateful to her for what she has done.”