Five lockdown joggers from Watford raised more than £5,000 for charity by completing their first ever half marathon 17 months after they first took up running.

Sachin Sanghvi, Chris Hewett, Katy Munroe, Tim Hale and Dan Knight founded the ACC Joggers to get out of the house during the first lockdown, and they completed the London Landmarks Half Marathon on Sunday for pregnancy charity Tommy's.

The cause is close to their hearts after Sachin's son was born at just 27 weeks in 2017. Arjun miraculously survived thanks to the incredible work of doctors at Watford General Hospital, and throughout his recovery the family received vital advice and support from a similar pregnancy charity called Bliss.

All five runners, who regularly meet in Cassiobury Park for training runs, completed Sunday's 21km race in times ranging from an impressive personal best of 1hr 44mins for Katy to another personal best of 2hr 14mins for Sachin.

All of the money raised will go towards finding causes and treatments to save babies’ lives as well as providing trusted pregnancy and baby loss information and support.

Watford Observer:

Dan, Sachin, Katy, Chris and Tim before the run

Sachin said: "It was a great achievement for all of us to get over the line having never run seriously before March last year. There was a fantastic atmosphere throughout the whole day and the run itself was tough, but knowing we were doing it for such a great cause pushed all of us on.

"We're all keen to keep up the running now as it's been great for our personal fitness and mental health. So who knows, maybe we'll look to take on a full marathon next year."