SIMPLY running a marathon is a daunting challenge for most people – but for this pair of tough Midlands soldiers it will be extra hard.

Next month Siobhan Fitzpatrick from Birmingham will attempt to run a marathon – in war-torn Afghanistan.

While tomorrow injured Black Country soldier Karl Hinett is forging ahead with his ambitious plan to run a marathon every week this year.

Siobhan will run her 26 miles on April 17, the same day as the London Marathon.

But, unlike the thousands pounding London’s streets, Siobhan will run in Kabul where she is a lance corporal with the Army fighting the Taliban.

The 28-year-old, from Tile Cross, is planning the challenge to raise money for the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine, based at Birmingham’s new Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Due to safety considerations and the hot dusty climate, Siobhan will be unable to run her marathon outdoors and will complete the entire distance on a treadmill in an Army gym.

Although she has run a half marathon in the past, she has never attempted a full marathon and is busy training hard.

“I wanted to raise money for the QE hospital and decided running a marathon was a good way of doing it,” she said.

She is training on the treadmill four to five times a week, when her duties as a clerk and administrator allow.

Her training consists of speedwork, mixed in with one long run a week to build her stamina.

“My aim is to do it in four and a half hours,” she said.

“It’s a pity I can’t do it outdoors, but in Afghanistan that’s just not feasible.”