Alice Townend, a surgeon who lives in Tyneside, has become the first woman to run the full length of the Tyne and Wear Metro system.

Alice ran the full 65 miles on Sunday 9 August, running along the Metro’s yellow and green lines in less than 24 hours.

Her run supported Women’s Street Watch, which is a grassroots network of volunteers working on Newcastle’s streets at night to keep women safe.

Alice, 53, of Great Park in Newcastle, crossed the finish line in 21 hours and 55 minutes, and in doing so became the first woman to complete what is known as the “Metro ultra-marathon”.

She works as a consultant oncoplastic breast surgeon at the Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, and took her inspiration for the run from the story of Paul McDougal from Cramlington, who successfully ran the Metro lines in eighteen hours earlier this year.

Others who have completed the run include Ben Cook. Two years ago, teenager Charles McManus ran to every one of the Metro’s sixty stations in memory of his dad, in the process raising thousands of pounds for St Oswald’s Hospice in Newcastle and the Brain Tumour Charity.

“I’ve done long distances before, but this was harder. The first day it was really hot, and I went through some tough moments early on Sunday morning, but I managed to get through it with the help of my amazing support team.

“It was an incredible feeling to cross that finish line with my friends and family there. I’m particularly proud to be the first woman to run the Metro marathon.

“I have been running in support of Women’s Street Watch. I want to highlight women’s safety, because ordinarily we can’t do runs like this late at night on our own.“I also wanted to show that women of my age, in their 50s, should not be written off. We can do tough things, we just have to be brave enough to try.”

Alice Townend