A DETERMINED runner is getting ready for a new challenge as she prepares to plunge from the sky.

Kayleigh Jamieson-Tait has been a familiar face at the Edinburgh Marathon Festival since 2018.

Along the way, she has raised thousands of pounds for the Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity.

At the end of May, the mum-of-two will once again pull on her running shoes – but before then, she is taking on a different challenge: a tandem jump from 10,000 feet.

She said: “I just wanted to do something different.

“I have done the runs at the Edinburgh Marathon Festival, the Great North Run, the Scottish 10k and the Scottish Half Marathon.

“The children in hospital, they face so many challenges and I thought why not challenge myself to do something different?

“I’m putting myself out of my comfort zone.

“There is nothing you can do to prepare – just turn up on the day, hope the weather is good and get the plane up!”

The 33-year-old will take the plunge from 10,000 feet above Glenrothes in April.

In normal circumstances, Kayleigh would keep her feet firmly on the ground.

She added: “I would choose not to climb a ladder and certainly not walk under one!”

Kayleigh’s connection with the charity dates back to when son Jack was diagnosed with asthma when he was just three years old.

The support worker at Haddington’s Hilton Lodge has again signed up to do the 5k and 10k events on the Saturday of the Edinburgh Marathon Festival before returning to complete the half marathon the following day.

She will be wearing the red vest of the Capital charity, which supports the Edinburgh Royal Hospital for Children and Young People and other healthcare settings across the east of Scotland, to show her support for the efforts of healthcare staff in looking after Jack, who is now 12.

The Macmerry mum, who also has a 16-year-old daughter Kayla, said: “They have inspired us so much.

“They have got us through our darkest moments with Jack and without them we could not have created the amazing memories that we have got.

“They have given us tickets to do zoo nights, they are just a phone call away whenever we need them, any kind of support, emotional or physical.

“It makes such a difference, especially with young people, because a familiar face is a safe space for them.

“It is a safe space for families as well.

“Jack has had the same doctor since he was three or four and it is the same for the asthma specialist.

“His two nurses have been the same since he was a baby.

“We were there in December and his doctor could not believe he is now 12. He has seen him grow from a baby into a young man.”

Donate at justgiving.com/fundraising/kayleigh-jamieson-tait9