HANNAH Pullen, the head of girls’ games at King Edward’s School Witley, was the fastest woman in the field at the Hampton Court Palace Half Marathon, finishing in a blistering 1hr 23min 36secs.

Her pace of 6.22 minutes per mile was enough to earn her 38th place in the March 15 race.

She had also produced a very strong performance in the Vitality Big Half London on March 1, where she ran a personal best of 1hr 20min 32sec.

Hannah was delighted with her performances. “The Palace Court course was tough!” she said.

“But I came away with first female position so I was very happy with that!

“I came 38th overall, including the men, out of almost 3,000 runners.

“I had great support and encouragement from the staff and pupils at King Edward’s Witley and that spurred me on to achieve the best results I could.”

Hannah was using the events as a competitive warm-up for the London Marathon – but that has now been postponed until October.

Hannah added: “I hope my achievements will help inspire our pupils to acquire a passion for sport, which benefits not only their health but also contributes to the development of other key skills. If you set your mind to it, you can achieve anything you want to.”