LYNN Hindle has been invited to take part in the Nice 10K Road Race on January 8 and is set for a prestigious trip to Thailand later next year.

The 37 year old Blackburn Road Runner is one of six Great Britain athletes who will make the trip to take part in the French Transplant Games event.

Lynn was given a new kidney four years ago after suffering illness since the age of 21.

By the time a replacement became available she had just started dialysis and was quite ill, so the prospect of an athletic future must have seemed remote.

Although she must take anti-rejection drugs for the rest of her life, in all other respects Lynn is a picture of good health, and she has proved to be just that, taking the athletics world by storm and becoming a double World Champion.

It was while recovering from her operation that one of the nurses encouraged her to take part in athletics as part of her recuperation, so she went to her first British Transplant Games at Norwich University in 2004 with little expectation.

She was somewhat surprised to come away with four medals, including gold in the 400 metres and 800 metres, but she was duly selected for the Great Britain Team for the 2005 World Transplant Games in Canada.

Friends and colleagues at Blackburn Town Hall and a fund raising concert at Furthergate Working Mens Club helped to raise the money for her trip, and in a massive competition with 50 nations and 1500 athletes taking part, she returned home with gold medals in the 400m and 1500m and a silver in the 3,000m mini-marathon.

Lynn added to her medal haul in this year's British Transplant Games held in Bath, with victories in the 400m, 1500m and mini-marathon and second place in the 800m.

These performances helped to cement her place in the next World Games, which are held every two years. The 2007 event will be in Thailand and she has been chosen for the 400m, 800m, 1500m and mini-marathon.

In the meantime Lynn has been concentrating on the longer distances, running the 2005 Great North Run to raise money for the National Kidney Research Fund.

Having joined Blackburn Road Runners, she has taken part in a few more road races, including a club outing to the Amsterdam Half Marathon, but due to her modest personality few people knew about her successes.

It wasn't until she galloped away with the Club Handicap Race in September - incidentally leaving egg on the face of this correspondent who was the handicapper - that the truth came to light.

Now the cat is well and truly out of the bag, the club has pledged its support to help Lynn reach Thailand.

andy.mcallister@virgin.net