Twenty-one-year-old Bethan Osborne from Tenby will be taking part in next weekend’s Long Course Weekend half marathon.

Nothing special about that you might think; plenty of other young women will also no doubt be entering the popular event.

But when you hear what Bethan has had to overcome, you begin to realise what an achievement it actually is.

Daughter of Jayne and Robert Osborne and sister of Iwan, Bethan was born with two holes in her heart and a narrowed main artery, the artery being repaired at Heath Hospital, Cardiff, when she was just 15-weeks-old.

And if that was not enough for a young girl to endure, Bethan was also diagnosed with Scoliosis (curved spine) at 14 years of age and underwent a six-and-a-half hour operation to straighten her spine in 2012. She gained four inches in height following surgery.

Scoliosis affects both boys and girls and we understand that there’s a high number of girls in the Tenby area who have also undergone corrective surgery.

Always with a love of sport, Bethan used to enjoy playing football until her back became too painful to play, and was part of the Greenhill School team that won the Welsh Schools Under 13s tournament.

Following her operation and a slow painful recovery, she was inspired by watching Ironman and decided to take up running last October.

She joined Tenby Aces recently and is grateful for all their support, especially her running partner Nicola Coates.

Bethan will be running the LCW half martahon to raise money for the Scoliosis Fund and has set up a Just Giving page. If anyone would like to sponsor her (go to Virgin Money Giving.com Search for Bethan Osborne) or a sponsor form is available at Jazz Radio.