Gemma Atkinson Fan Site

A full moon hangs in the night sky and lightning streaks across dark storm clouds.  Sarah Tyler returns to her troubled family home in the isolated countryside, for a much put-off visit.  As the storm rages on, Sarah, her family and friends shore up for the night, cut off from the outside world.  But something comes out of the driving rain and darkness.  Something that holds a dark secret so devastating that, in one night, it could wipe out the entire family.

Trapped, Sarah and her brothers and friends must use their heads as well as their physical strength to survive not only the thing that is hunting them down one by one – but their own entrapment as the besieged group turns in on itself.  Can they survive the horror stalking them?  Or is their enemy already amongst them and has it always been? Can they survive for 13 hours?

Are you scared yet?

Gemma Atkinson is a bit of a novice at this running stuff. It will be the first time the model and actress will try out a 10k race when she takes part in the Bupa Great Manchester Run.

I’m a bit of a tomboy,” she laughs. “I’ve always been really active and at school I was on all the sports teams – although I never really liked running.

“So I’m determined to be prepared for the 10k run, as it’s the first time I’ve done this distance.”

Gemma, 24, admits lack of preparation for a 5k run she took part in for charity last year took its toll.

“Last year I did a 5k run but without doing any training at all, which was a bad idea,” she grimaces. “I actually threw up at the end of it!

“I’d been used to running three miles on a treadmill at the gym, but road running is completely different. It’s a totally different surface, so I’ve made sure I’m prepared this time around.

“I’ve been mixing it up between 40 minutes on the treadmill with 40 minute runs out on the road.”

Gemma has running three miles a day, five days a week. She also makes sure she stretches fully before and after her workouts to avoid injury.

Gemma has been on a balanced diet to get the most from her workouts.

“I always have porridge and a banana for breakfast before I head out for a run,” she advises. “Getting the right fuel is just as important as the fitness itself.”

Gemma was already training over the winter when she had “fly” each night as Peter Pan at the Opera House.

“I had to have a harness on for the whole show, and I ended up burning twice as many calories as everybody else so the weight dropped off. But I loved every minute of panto – I’d love to do another one.”

Gemma laughs: “I’m bridesmaid for my best friend in a few weeks’ time, but she keeps going berserk at me because every time I go for a fitting I’m a bit smaller. She keeps having to pay for me to have my dress pulled in, so she’s not best pleased.”

Gemma will be among 30,000 entrants for this year’s Great Run on May 17 – and her clan will be raising funds for Manchester’s New Children’s Hospital Appeal.

That’s because of Gemma’s personal experience of the work of staff at the existing children’s hospital at Pendlebury.