A PAINFUL broken shoulder in her first week of training will not stop a determined York woman from running her first-ever full marathon.

Dawn May, 51, tripped on an uneven paving slab just days after our picture was taken, stopping her training in its tracks.

However, she said she is determined to complete the Yorkshire Marathon and raise funds for Applefields Specialist School in York.

She said: “I do the Race for Life every year, but the only big run I have ever done was the Bridlington half-marathon and I didn’t really train for that.

“I was very tired afterwards and I think that was down to a stomach bug I had at the time, but also down to not enough training.”

Her experience meant Dawn was determined not to make the same mistake and she started training in January, only for disaster to strike three weeks later.

She said: “I was just walking along Bootham Crescent because I had a letter to post.

“There was a paving stone about three inches up from the rest of the pavement and I just went my full length.

“It’s still very painful three weeks on and my arm is in sling. I can’t do any training at the moment. The accident has stopped me in my tracks.”

Despite the setback, Dawn is still determined to run the marathon and is looking forward to getting back into her training shoes.

“I’m going to attempt the full distance some time before October 20, which is when the race is. I have got seven months to build up to it now,” she said.

“I will do the race even if I have to crawl it because I have so many children depending on me. The school will be my motivation.”