RADIO 2 star Sara Cox has kicked off her longest EVER Children In Need challenge this morning.
On Sunday night, Sara spoke to her fans ahead of beginning her biggest challenge yet, today (Monday, November 10) when she said it was “the calm before the storm”.
The DJ icon is tackling the Great Northern Marathon Challenge for Children In Need this week.
Covering 135 miles on foot across four counties in five days, Sara will be doing the equivalent of five marathons.
Earlier this month, Sara spoke out about the challenge and revealed how Hollywood star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson had given her some advice ahead of beginning the gruelling task.
According to The Independent, Sara said of Dwayne’s advice: “He was great.
“I did ask him if he fancied to come up along the route and give me a piggyback at some point.
“He insisted he was very busy before he even knew what the date was of the challenge.
“But he did say, just picture how you’d feel if you didn’t do it, if you didn’t push yourself that extra bit, which was helpful.
“I’ll have that ringing in my ears. There’s no way I can’t finish it. I’ve got to, I’ve got to complete it.”
Dwayne’s advice was not the only advice Sara has received ahead of her challenge.
She also received a bit of advice from Radio 2 presenter Paddy McGuinness.
Paddy, who completed a cycle challenge last year and raised £10.3 million for the charity, told her to “block out all the noise, and just get training”.
The radio star will be walking, running and jogging from Kielder Forrest to Pudsey in Leeds, beginning her challenge today and completing it on November 14.
Speaking about the decision to take part in the challenge, Sara previously said: “The problem is, when you get asked to do the Children In Need challenge, because it’s a huge privilege wrapped up in some extreme physical exertion, you can’t say no to it because why would you say no?
“You’re getting offered the chance to do a massive challenge that is hopefully going to change loads of children’s lives.
“The way I’m doing it, mentally, is I’m doing lots of five miles because at the end of five or six miles, that’s when somebody will put some ice on my knee and hopefully give me a bar of chocolate or something and then I’ll get out to the next one.”
She also said: “The challenge has completely taken over my life, the training and the build up to it.
“It’s all hard work, but it’s all for a really good reason.”
Sara later added that by doing this huge challenge, she will help to shine a light on the charities that need help.
“I feel like it’s massively important to just shout about these charities run by amazing people who dedicate their lives to helping kids.
“That’s sort of the magic of Children In Need,” she said.
