Brenda Blethyn on running a half-marathon at 80 - and the hilarious way her husband helped her fitness journey

"I don't feel 80. When you're young and you think of 80, you're in a bath chair. But that's not the case, thank goodness."

Brenda Blethyn is not ready to let hitting the milestone age define her - or limit her. In fact, the Vera star is so busy that turning 80 this February became something of an afterthought.

The legendary British actress stepped down from Vera after 14 years, but instead of slowing down, it’s all going full speed ahead for the Golden Globe and BAFTA-winning icon. Not only is her career continuing to soar, but she’s got another major objective in her sight - pulling on her running shoes and completing a half-marathon.

Brenda, who has run the London Marathon on three occasions in the past, told Hello! that conquering another 13.1-mile run isn’t inconceivable now she’s entered her ninth decade. "I'll see what the trainer says," she told the outlet when the topic came up.

A half-marathon at 80 may seem daunting to some, but Brenda is no stranger to defying the odds. She ran her first full London Marathon - that's 26.2 miles - when she was "knocking on 60", as she once shared with the Times.

How does she keep so motivated later in life? "Sometimes I didn't feel like doing it, and if I didn't answer the door, he'd shout through the letterbox, 'I know you're in there'".

If having a pushy trainer wasn’t inspiration enough, Brenda shared the hilarious way her husband used to encourage her running. Michael Mayhew, her partner of over 50 years and the former art director of the National Theatre, would drive her to another part of London and leave her there to run home.

Leaving her in other parts of London isn’t the reason the two live in separate apartments, though. The actress previously opened up about their unusual living arrangement, saying it works "brilliantly" for them.

As the star keeps the momentum going literally, so too does her career. Something which came as a surprise to her after she stepped away from the long-running ITV detective series, Vera.

"I didn't think the phone would ever ring, but it's been ringing off the hook. I didn't know this was going to happen."

Since leaving Vera, Brenda starred in the 2025 film, Dragonfly - and her sumptuous new Channel 4 period drama, A woman of Substance, premieres on Wednesday, March 11.

The series, based on Barbara Taylor Bradford’s best-selling novel, cast Brenda as the older version of Emma Harte, a housemaid who becomes a powerful businesswoman.

Ever humble, Brenda jokes about feeling "surprised" to have been offered such a role - much different from the gritty roles we’ve seen her take in films like Secrets & Lies.

She said, "If you were casting A Woman of Substance, this fashionista, this richest woman in the world, who's the first person who would spring to mind? Brenda Blethyn?"

However, there was plenty about the role that deeply resonated - including the reality of being working class but aspiring for more.

"I could understand Emma's struggle and how important it was just to get a couple more shillings a week. My mum had three jobs to make ends meet.

"We had a rather Victorian upbringing. You're taught that if you want anything, you've got to work for it. Nothing's going to be handed to you on a plate, especially if you're working-class."