A PRIMARY school teacher will be taking her fitness to the peak to support the Colchester Cancer Centre Campaign.

Having already completed London and Brighton marathons, Caroline Searle, 34, wanted to set her sights on a hilly challenge.

This Saturday she will be running the Snowdonia Marathon, which will include ascending to up to 1,200ft on the tough Welsh terrain.

Caroline, who teaches year one at Lexden Primary School, agreed with her late mum she would run in honour of the campaign too.

The aim of campaign, led by The Colchester Hospitals Charity (CoHoc), is to provide one integrated cancer centre that combines first-class radiotherapy, chemotherapy and medical treatments, alongside complementary therapies, information, support and advice for people affected by cancer.

CoHoc needs to raise £4.5million to build the centre at Colchester General Hospital and is just over a quarter of the way to the target.

Caroline's mum Pam Searle lost her three year battle with bowel cancer in May and was a supporter of the campaign.

Caroline said: "We went through Colchester hospital and used their services and the Mary Barron suite for treatment and she thought they were a marvellous set of people.

"She really wanted to see the units joined together.

"When this Cancer Centre Campaign was set up she was an avid follower of it.

"I entered this before she died. We chatted about what charity I was going to run for.

"It was her wish for me to run for CoHoc."

Pam, married to Caroline's dad Mike, was 71 when she died and had been a family planning nurse and school nurse for many years.

Caroline, who is a member of Great Bentley running club, has been training by running up and down Colchester's toughest peaks - Balkerne Hill and North Hill, as well as around Highwoods Country Park and Langham.

She's been helped to perfect her technique by coach Darren Horner.

Relatives and friends will be supporting Caroline during Saturday's race by tracking her progress online.

Sponsor her at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Caroline-Searle8