A RIBBLE Valley musician is set to undertake a gruelling endurance marathon run to raise money for charity.

Violinist and multi-instrumentalist Gaynor Sutcliffe, 34, will run 177 miles in five days in aid of the Friends of Chernobyl Children.

The mum-of-one will take on Offa’s Dyke which follows the English-Welsh border from Prestatyn to Chepstow, next month.

Gaynor, of St James’ Street, Clitheroe, is aims to raise around £1,500 for the charity, who her mum has been involved with for many years.

She will take on the 36-miles-a-day challenge with fellow musician Joy Hunter from Chorley, with Lancashire dialect specialist Sid Calderbank of Euxton driving the support vehicle.

The trek starts in Prestatyn on Friday, July 25, and finishes in Chepstow on Tuesday, July 29.

It will be followed on Thursday, July 31, by a night of swing, ceilidh and good time music headlined by Gaynor’s band, the Western Valley Hot Club, at the St Michael and St John’s Social Centre in Lowergate, Clitheroe.

Gaynor said: “Doing one run will not be a problem; it’s getting up the next day and doing it all over again which might prove tricky.

“I’m really looking forward to it and it’s a beautiful part of the world.

“The charity is struggling at the moment and every year it’s getting harder to raise enough money for the trips to take place so every penny I raise is important.”

Offa’s Dyke follows the Clwydian and Shropshire Hills, Black Mountains and the Severn and Wye rivers.

Gaynor, who was named Musician of the Year at the 2011 British Country Music Awards, can play the violin, piano accordion, keyboard, double bass and trombone.

In 2013 she cycled 1,000 miles from Land’s End to John O’Groats for the East Lancashire Hospice, and in 2012 raised £1,500 for the Friends of Chernobyl Children from a 70-mile walk of the Ribble Way.

The Friends of Chernobyl Children provides disadvantaged children from Chernobyl with holidays in the UK, including Clitheroe, to isolate them from ongoing nuclear residue from the Chernobul Nuclear Power Plant explosion. Visit www.justgiving.com/offasdykerun2014.