A CANCER survivor from North Dorset is setting her sights on an ultramarathon challenge less than a year after completing chemotherapy.

Alex Pilgrim, 61, from Blandford Forum, is training to take part in the 100km Dixons Carphone Race to the Stones, which takes place in July.

The intense challenge comes after a difficult 2017, in which she was diagnosed with bowel cancer.

Alex became an avid runner after her mother was struck down with a serious illness in 2013 – using it as a distraction from her concerns.

She joined the local running club and took part in the Blandford Parkrun.

This led to Alex and her close friends coming together as a group, labelling themselves the ‘Combat Crew’.

However, the shock cancer diagnosis in May 2017 postponed many of the joint events the group had planned as they instead came together to fight Alex's personal challenge.

She underwent a six-hour "robotic surgery" in June and a round of chemotherapy in July and August.

"My running Combat Crew girls have been there for me every step of the way to my current level of recovery and fitness," Alex said.

"I had to cancel loads of running events last summer and only started running again in late September 2017.”

To mark her 'one year on' anniversary Alex decided to take on a big challenge and she settled upon the Dixons Carphone Race to the Stones.

The event, which takes place on July 14 and 15, will see thousands of participants run or walk the 100km length of the Ridgeway, Britain’s oldest path. The route starts in the Chilterns, before entering the North Wessex Downs, finishing next to the 5,000 year-old stone circle in Avebury.

“I just needed a big challenge for this year," Alex added.

"To mark my 'one year on' anniversary plus to just prove that I can beat this thing called cancer. And to get fit again.

"I had set myself 60 challenges for my 60th year last year – I hadn't expected them to include a major illness.”

Alex and the rest of the Combat Crew are raising money for Bowel & Cancer Research.

Her cancer has left an impact on her diet, with a need to avoid certain foods while her bowel is still recovering.

“There is still a lot I am unable to 'process' so it’s a very delicate balancing act with what I can and should eat – to fuel my training without upsetting my system or feed any stray cancer cells," she added.

"It’s a minefield so I've been working with a fabulous nutritional therapist and a medical herbalist.”