A runner geared up to compete in an Antarctic charity marathon has been forced to pull out after she tested positive for the coronavirus.

Anna Laura Hocking, who landed in Bellinghausen Bay in Antarctica this morning, confirmed on Facebook that she will be confined to her cabin on the event’s transport ship for eight days after a gruelling 8,000-mile journey to the frozen continent.

But she added that the rest of her team, the Bermuda Penguins, would carry the torch and raise cash for young people’s adventure charity Raleigh Bermuda while she was quarantined.

Ms Hocking wrote: “I am gutted, but the saving grace here is not only the beautiful scenery but the fact that my fellow Penguin team members Mark Harris, Phil Martin and Andy McComb all tested negative and are out there running the marathon for Raleigh Bermuda.”

Ms Hocking and her team signed up for the three-day Antarctica Marathon last year to support Raleigh Bermuda.

She also completed a challenge to run 2,021 miles before the end of last year.

The rest of the group is expected to face extreme weather conditions during the race, including unpredictable weather and temperatures as low as -45º5C (-50ºF).