Children at a Shropshire school ran themselves ragged for Sport Relief as they embarked on an all-day relay marathon around their muddy school field.

Youngsters at Weston Lullingfields CE Primary School, near Baschurch, were urged to wear something red and ran 27-and-a-half miles between them, raising about £150 for good causes.

Some 50 mini-marathon runners took turns to don a pair of red wellies and do laps of the playing field during Thursday’s gruelling Sport Relief challenge.

Individually some of the children, aged between four and 11, notched up more than a mile each.

School staff said yesterday was a quiet day as the tired runners recovered from their sporting feat.

School administrator Lisa Edwards said: “They did really well and gave everything.

“Letters went out to parents about it and we had a bucket for donations which contained about £150 by the end.

“Lessons went on as normal and we pulled the kids out of class when it was their stint. The weather was good apart from a few showers later on. The wellies were red at the start of the day. In the end the field got muddy and so did the wellies which look more brown in colour now.”

Teachers and parents got in on the act too, running laps of their own to help the children out.

Jenny Whittingham, teaching assistant and sports co-ordinator, hatched the idea for the challenge.

She said: “They ran 27-and-a-half miles, which is a bit more than a marathon. They did really well and wore one pair of size eight red wellies between them from 8am to 5pm. All the children did at least one lap.”