The wife of a Rutland Red Arrows pilot is to start in Grantham the first of ten epic challenges to mark the tenth anniversary of the death of her husband.

Flt Lt Jon Egging tragically died aged 33 at the Bournemouth Air Show in 2011 when his plane came down near Bournemouth Airport in Dorset after completing a display over the town's seafront.

He is funeral was held at the St Mary the Virgin Church in the village of Morcott, where his widow lived.

Now, Dr Emma Egging, who created the youth charity, the Jon Egging Trust, will kick off her challenges with the gruelling 33-mile Grantham Canal ultramarathon on April 17.

There, she will be joined in stages by former Red Arrows leader Sqn Ldr Martin Pert, ex Battle of Britain Memorial Flight boss Sqn Ldr Dunc Mason, and JET Patron, Air ViceMarshal Harv Smyth.

Emma's ultramarathon, which will start at Nottingham Forest Football Club, will also launch the charity's JET10 Virtual Relay, a national initiative to encourage teams of 10 from across the UK to jog, run or walk 10x10km to raise vital funds to support JET's next decade of work.

Over the past ten years, JET has supported more than 30,000 young people, but it has set a hugely ambitious target of raising £100k to help reach out to 1 million youngsters by 2031.

Despite the immense physical challenge of many of the ten events Emma has chosen, she says she's anything but a super-athlete and has selected each one because it will push her out of her comfort zone.

Emma said: "At JET, we work with young people who are at risk of falling out of fulltime education because of the life challenges they face. Our ethos is all about building confidence to overcome adversity and get back on track.

"That's exactly what I'm doing too; taking on events which will be a huge personal challenge to me, and overcoming fears – which include open water swimming – to show that anything is possible with support and determination.

"I really hope my events will shine a light on the work we do, and encourage people to sign up for our virtual relay. We need to raise funds to springboard our ambition for the next ten years, and the young people we support need us more than ever in light of the added challenge and complexity that Covid-19 has heaped on their lives."

More details of Emma's ten events - which include the JET10 Virtual Relay in July, the Great North Run in September and the London Marathon in October, can be found at www.joneggingtrust.org.uk

o Grantham Canal 33-mile ultramarathon (April 17

o 5km - beating personal PB of 22 mins (May)

(June)

- www.JET10.joneggingtrust.org.uk)

o Triathlon (Aug)

th / 6th Aug)

o JET Ride – 100-mile cycle (26th Sept)