SINCE their daughter Liberty was taken from them when she was hit by a car last summer Paul and Maureen Baker have run hundreds of miles to help numb their grief.

On Sunday they will join with 14 other friends and family members to take on their biggest challenge yet – the Oxford Half Marathon.

They hope to raise money to support next year’s Lib Fest in memory of Liberty.

The festival, which was held for the first time in June, will once again raise money for child bereavement and road safety charities.

Witney resident Mr Baker said: “We have been doing runs for some time now and it helped us with the grieving, it takes your mind off it.

“I did a 10k run back in February and then after that Maureen and two of her friends did a 10k as well.

“This is the biggest distance we have done – this is the big one. Depending on how it goes we might do the London Marathon, too.”

Liberty was killed on June 30, 2014 at the age of 14 when she was hit by a car driven by Robert Blackwell as he sped along Curbridge Road and mounted the kerb.

Blackwell, 19, was sentenced to four years in jail in April after admitting causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

The marathon will be held less than two weeks before what would have been Liberty’s 16th birthday on October 22.

Mr Baker said: “I am really looking forward to the half marathon. Until Tuesday we had never met up as a full team but groups of us had done long runs.

“I am hoping to do the half marathon in about two or two-and-a-half hours, doing something like a 10-minute-mile.

“I know Mo Farah did the Great North Run in 59 minutes so I won’t be troubling him.”

Lib Fest was held in The Leys in Witney on June 25 this year and featured a 5k fun run, live music and other activities.

It was organised by people from the town, including Liberty’s friends, and raised more than £11,000 for charity.

Mr and Mrs Baker have already raised more than £800 towards the 2016 event, which will be combined with the money raised on the day.

They and their 14 teammates will wear T-shirts with Liberty’s photo printed on them.

Mr Baker said: “We set up a gofundme page for the half marathon and we set a target of £500 but we have already passed that.

“I am a bit nervous about the run because I have only run a 10k before but I have done some big training runs.”

To sponsor the team visit gofundme.com/libertybaker.