WHEN headteacher Janice Peacock told her children they were going to run to Rio, they thought she was joking – now they're in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Between them, the 117 children at St James Primary School in East Hanney are running the 5,600 miles from their village to this year's Olympic Stadium in Brazil, and they're already halfway there, metaphorically at least.

To clock up the total distance, each child needs to run 44.4 miles over the course of this term.

It is the first time the whole school has studied one topic, and the students are learning about maths and geography while getting fit and improving their concentration.

Mrs Peacock, who started at the school in January, said: "They're absolutely up for it.

"Every day the children will come in and say to their teacher 'when are we doing our mile?'."

Even the staff join the children on their daily run, and the mission has definitely promoted some healthy competition at the school, she said.

"Some of them chose to walk it rather than run it, and some of them say 'let's see if we can run faster than Mrs Peacock'.

"I've been really impressed with the children, the staff and the parents, they've all got on board and encouraged each other."

As if running 5,600 miles was not enough of a challenge, the children also voted to raise sponsorship for two charities – Helen and Douglas House children's hospice in Oxford and Cancer Research UK.