Belles’ road and cross country captain Sammi Amend is set to attempt a new British 24-hour record at Battersea this September.

The feat of ultra endurance will begin at 12 noon of Saturday 18th September and continue into Sunday 19th.

Sammi, who broke the British 100-mile record in April, will need to run more than 240.169km to beat the current British record set by Eleanor Adams in 1989.

She’s targeting 250km in total, which would be an average of 9:16-minute miling for the duration, including stops, toilet breaks, and taking on food.

That would be a significant improvement on her previous best of 220.249km set in 2018.

Fellow Belgravian James Williams will also be among the 50 ultra endurance athletes taking part.

And they could do with as much support as possible from fellow Belgravians across the 24-hour period trackside at the Millennium Arena.

We spoke to Sammi ahead of her record attempt.

How will you mentally deal with 24 hours of running?

I am used to long endurance racing and you have to break it down into blocks. I tend to break it down into either marathon blocks, for example 105 laps x the target distance, or 4-hour blocks which is when you are turned to run the other direction.

I also break it down into miles when approaching the final section; it helps to keep focus. You don’t want to think about too much when running as it wastes a lot of energy, so the first six hours I just drift and relax and prepare for when the 12-hour point comes. That’s through the night when you should be asleep (it’s like sleep running) and I hit the caffeine and music to keep my spirits high. Apart from that I work through personal challenges and use this as mental relaxation and downtime.

Will you take breaks?

Absolutely! I will take on nutrition every 45 minutes, and then look to have something warm in the evening as if I was still at home, mainly for comfort. Also I’ll break for the toilet every few hours but they’re short stops, and I don’t plan to sit down or linger around my table. In the past I spent too much time at the table and I’ve asked my crew to discourage it this time in order to keep focus.

What support will you have on the day?

My two great friends who are used to the long support shifts Jo and Trevor, my daughter - and hopefully a few Belgrave faces will pop down too!