A RHYL woman has successfully completed her first half marathon - less than six months after completing chemotherapy.

Emma Birchall, 49, finished the Sanlam Coastal Half marathon – more than 13 miles from Colwyn Bay to Prestatyn - in two hours and 20 minutes on behalf of her awareness group Feel Find Mind, which encourages women to check their breast for signs of breast cancer.

Miss Birchall, who was diagnosed with cancer in both of her breasts requiring a double lumpectomy before she successfully completed a season ticket of treatments at Glan Clwyd hospital on October 17, 2018.

Miss Birchall, a mum of two to Rhys and Erin, said: “On the morning of the October 17 I took myself up a mountain to reflect on my experience and that of those around me.

I wanted to draw a line and move on past the cancer. But those that know me know I am not a patient person, and I quickly realized that the line I’d drawn in my mind my body had no chance of keeping up with.

“My body simply doesn't function as it used to post the chemo, so every mile required that extra effort - but that's what the challenge is all about.”

Miss Birchall – who before her diagnosis had ran as far as 10k with Prestatyn Running Club but had never ran more than a 10k race – began training for half marathon in January as part of a series of five challenges she has set for herself ahead of her 50th birthday in November to increase the profile of Feel Find Mind

Other challenges which are underway include inviting people in the public eye - including comic Jason Manford, former England rugby player Jeremy Guscott and MP Chris Ruane - tweet and share images of themselves in Feel Find Mind T-shirts as well as touring Parkruns in North Wales and Cheshire

She also intends to take a trip on the zip line at Zip World in Snowdonia and a fifth, secret challenge.

Miss Birchall, a manager at Sanlam Wealth Planning, added: “I decided to set myself five challenges, one for each decade of my life thus far. This is were Feel Find Mind started.

"The aim of the challenges is to raise awareness of the fact that we all have a responsibility to ourselves to regular check our breasts for lumps, bumps or changes. Mammograms are not routinely available in Wales, so if you are under 50 so it's all down to you.

“Wearing my Feel Find Mind T-shirt, the logo and the gummy bears in my pocket for that on route energy boost, I was determined to finish and see the race through to the finish line in the knowledge that at the end there were friends who were standing out in the cold, supporting me in my half marathon attempt.”

For more information on Feel Find Mind, visit the group's Facebook page.