HAVING a thick skin is par for the course if you are running a marathon dressed as a rhino as Petersfield shop owner Gillian Silverthorn has set out to do.
As if completing 26 miles is not tough enough, Gillian will be donning a 12 kilo rhino suit for the London Marathon on April 24.
At 55 years old, she is the oldest grey rhino running for the Save the Rhino charity, highlighting the extinction threat to the five species of the animal.
“I?have been told by a previous rhino runner to be prepared,” said Gillian, who owns The Bran Tub health shop in Lavant Street.
“Not only with the weight over 26 miles, but he said ‘it’s like running inside a crisp packet in a sauna. Noisy and hot’.”
Gillian has run marathons before, but she has had to train with weights to build up her upper body and core strength for this one.
She has already raised more than £1,600, and she is asking people to guess her finish time to win a selection of prizes, including artwork by Amy Proud and David Horgan.
To sponsor Gillian, and for more information, visit http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/gilliansilverthorn