The Sage Reading Half Marathon is just a month away, and one team taking part will be doing so on behalf of the event's partner charity, Babies in Buscot.

There is still time to enter to run by signing up.

One inspiring woman running for the charity, which supports babies and their families in the special care baby unit (Buscot Ward) at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, is Anne-Marie Monahan.

Anne-Marie will be running just seven months after giving birth to her son Archie and spending much of her pregnancy in a wheelchair due to symphysis pubis dysfunction (SPD).

She will be joined on the start line by her partner Matt and his brother and sister, Jamie and Beatrice.

They’ll be thinking of miracle baby Archie to give them the motivation they need to run 13.1 miles on March 17.

Archie defied all the odds after both his lungs collapsed shortly after he was born eight weeks early in August 2018.

Doctors told the family to prepare for the worst, saying that they had never seen a baby survive with a pneumothorax as large as Archie had.

"We want to do something as a family to raise money for BIBS that is difficult and challenging, just like Archie’s Buscot journey was," said Anne-Marie.

"Without the fantastic care that Archie received during those critical moments, it could have been a very different story."

After an extremely difficult pregnancy, Archie was delivered by emergency C-section under general anaesthetic when Anne-Marie had reached 32 weeks.

Archie was born with RDS (Respiratory Distress Syndrome), and 24 hours later, both his lungs collapsed.

Anne-Marie said: "It was all such a blur as I was recovering from the general anaesthetic and C-section, but I’ll never forget the consultant who came in from home on a bank holiday to oversee Archie’s care and the team that performed the emergency procedure to save Archie’s life.

"They were incredible.

"You just have no idea how amazing these people are until you really need them."

Archie also had a trip to John Radcliffe Hospital, where he eventually stabilised and returned to Buscot to grow and get stronger.

Miraculously, by the end of September he was able to go home.

Anne-Marie added: "The Buscot team were so supportive and helpful – even making sure I’d eaten enough and taken a break from being next to the incubator.

"They understood the bigger picture, as I have two older children who needed to be introduced to their new baby brother in his incubator covered in wires, and they also needed my attention too."

To support Anne-Marie, Matt, Beatrice and Jamie - visit their JustGiving page.

A former Buscot baby who will be running in the half marathon himself is Tom Canniffe.

Tom will be running on behalf of Buscot three days before his 18th birthday, with his proud parents Eve and Mike by his side.

Eve’s pregnancy had been straightforward until 29 weeks when she started to get backache, and despite resting for a few weeks, she went into labour nine weeks early without explanation as to why.

After 16 hours of labour, Tom was born, weighing just 4lb 8oz.

He was taken off to Buscot straight away where he steadily grew bigger and stronger during his month-long stay in hospital.

Eve said: "Every achievement in Tom’s life has been a milestone and precious memory for us and we are incredibly proud of the person he is today.

"By running the half marathon and supporting BIBS as a family, we are reminded of just how far he has come in 18 years and of the wonderful staff who supported us all in those early days.

"We will always be grateful to them and maybe we can provide inspiration and hope to other Buscot families."

Tom is currently preparing for his A-levels and making arrangements to go to University in September.

He said: "I’ll celebrate my 18th birthday three days after running my first half marathon, so raising money to support BIBS seems an appropriate way to say thank you at this time in my life.

"I enjoy sport, but this is a new challenge for me!

"My parents are of course very proud and very supportive and it’s very special to have them running the half marathon with me."

To support Tom and his parents, visit his JustGiving page.