Good morning!

Radio 2's teatime host Sara Cox is undertaking the challenge of her life in aid of Children in Need - travelling 135 miles on foot over five days to deliver a very special Pudsey Bear to the town he shares a name with.

Over the last three days, Sara has covered a distance equivalent to more than three marathons - but still has two more days to go!

She set off from Kielder Forest on Monday in great spirits, but grim weather on Tuesday and exhaustion on Wednesday have made for an emotional journey so far, but she's been buoyed by the generosity of the Radio 2 listeners who've donated an incredible £1.9m so far.

Last night, she was welcomed into Richmond, North Yorkshire, by a brass band and a huge crowd of supporters.

Sara's back in Richmond this morning - and will soon be setting off on the fourth leg of her Great Northern Marathon Challenge.

Her finishing point today is in Ripley, just north of Harrogate - but in order to get there she has 29.5 miles to cover, in what's going to be her longest day of the challenge.

Keep your ears and eyes peeled for more extraordinary moments and plenty of surprises along the way. We'll be bringing you details of all the ways you can follow along shortly.

If you'd like to support Sara with a text or online donation, you can find all the details at bbc.co.uk/sara

If you weren't able to follow along today, you can catch up on the day by reading about Day 3 in photos, or listening to the highlights programme below.

Sara will be back on the road tomorrow morning, setting off during The Scott Mills Breakfast Show, boosted by the fact that she's raised an incredible £1.9 MILLION for Children in Need already. Nearly £2 million, we can't get over it.

You'll be able to listen live on this page, via the BBC Sounds app, or via your smart speaker.

A weary but determined Sara Cox set off from Wolsingham this morning, greeted by cheering crowds.

Pit Stop 1 - Hamsterley

Reaching the halfway mark at Staindrop

Sara finds out she's reached the million mark!

Something you don't see every day - Sara was saluted by 40 tractors in Winston, County Durham!

Sara was surprised by her pal Gethin, who proceeded to run a good chunk of the day with her and keep her going!

And a very tired Sara finally made it into her final destination of the day in Richmond, to be told by Jo Whiley that she has raised £1.9 million - what a superstar!

It might not quite be Christmas time yet, but the bells are ringing for Sara tonight!

Josie from Buckingham got in touch to say: "I’m just out for an evening walk thinking about the amazing and totally inspirational Sara Cox. It’s bell ringing night at our local Church and just as I was sauntering past the bells sprang into action. It felt like some kind of celebratory gesture for Sara and it made me fee quite teary too. Go Sara, you amazing human being!"

After Sara Cox's restless night last night, we hope she manages to get that all-important sleep ahead of her fourth day, she's really going to need it.

Luckily, BBC Sounds has some shows that we think might help:

• Radio 2 Unwinds with Angela Griffin
• Sleep Tracks
• The Sleeping Forecast
• Radio 1's Deep Sleepscapes

You can check out some episodes from those programmes below.

And if you wake up in the night, you can listen to Radio 3 Unwind live, as they have special overnight programmes designed to help soothe yourself back to sleep.

People are wishing Sara a good night's sleep after the revelation that she only had a couple of hours last night - before completing a marathon for the third time in a row!

She is a superwoman, and the Radio 2 listeners certainly agree. Keep your messages and donations coming, they mean so much to Sara.

Sara is over halfway through her Great Northern Marathon Challenge for BBC Children in Need, and has raised over £1.9 million so far! She is within touching distance of £2 million and you can help her reach that goal, and your donations will help change the lives of so many people.

If you'd like to support Sara with a text or online donation, and spur her on even further, you can find all the details below or at bbc.co.uk/sara!

Jo Whiley
BBC Radio 2 Presenter

I’ve never done a marathon, only a half marathon, and the next day, you can’t walk in the morning.

To have to then get up and do more than a marathon, and imagine the feeling in your legs, like that lead feeling and the pain, the throb as you try and move them as you make them bend. To then try and do that for five consecutive days is just unbelievable!

Sara Cox
BBC Radio 2's Great Northern Marathon Woman

I can’t believe today is done. That is physically and mentally the toughest day ever. Thank you for everyone coming out in Richmond!

I got a couple of hours sleep last night and I was bang awake at half 12. And then I was just listening to audiobooks and just trying not to panic.

I was awake till gone 3am and my alarm was set for 5am! I was just like, "What am I going to do?" I was in despair, in bits!

It’s the toothpaste method, where you think there’s nothing in the tube, and you just keep rolling it from the bottom and rolling and then a tiny bit comes out, I basically had to just keep rolling it out today. And the crowds have been amazing and have helped. The hills haven’t helped!

Jo Whiley
BBC Radio 2 Presenter

Sara Cox has been running in the dark, it’s her first day finishing long after sunset. If you heard her this morning she was struggling big time when she was speaking to Scott, she was in tears. It was really hard to listen to. But she has picked herself up, she is so resilient, so cheerful and kind talking to all the people along the way. You can hear the gratitude in her voice.

The heroic Sara Cox made it into Richmond and spoke to Jo Whiley straight after she crossed the finish line.

She was exhausted after a night of hardly any sleep and an incredibly long day. "Everything's sore!" she said.

As the crowd chanted for Sara, Jo Whiley told her she had a new total to give her...

We are blown away to announce that Sara has raised an incredible £1,930,710!

Richmond in North Yorkshire that is, not Richmond in London.

Sara has now completed three marathons and is over the midway point of her challenge, getting closer to delivering Pudsey Bear to Pudsey with every step!

She's been welcomed in by a brass band playing 'Life's a Happy Song' from the Muppets, which is played on Sara's show every day - and the cheers of many many Brownies and Guides.

Now it's time for Sara to rest up, as the country continues to get behind her!

When Sara gets in to Richmond she has a surprise waiting for her - Debbie from the Barnard Castle Girl Guiding division is there to make Sara an honorary Brownie for the week!

Debbie says: "We've got a massive load of Brownies and Guides from Richmond, Catterick, Barnard Castle and Gainford. And Pudsey's arriving too!

"We've all merged together from units from across the area, which is fantastic.

"We've got a sash with lots of badges on it for her... We've got "A girl can do anything", and some of the interest badges that were relevant. Charities, navigation, wayfinder, fitness, trailblazer. And then we found some local badges for her, and a Children in Need badge as well!"

There's also a brass band waiting to play her in - what a welcome she's going to have...

Holly is on the finish line waiting for Sara Cox to arrive in Richmond, and is missing class tonight to be here!

"I live not too far outside of Richmond and I was meant to be at a university class tonight but I messaged my tutors and I was like, ‘Look, Sara’s coming through, she’s doing her Children in Need run, please do you mind if I skip?' And yeah, they said they’re okay with me going in late or skipping it, so I’m here waiting for her to come in to cheer her on!"

Well, it's a pretty special occasion isn't it? Thank you to Holly's tutors for letting her come out to see Sara, she needs all the support she can get.

Our team on the ground with Sara Cox are telling us she's only one mile away from Richmond now, but she's got a huge hill to climb to get there - literally and figuratively... Keep going Sara!

"When I stop I have to walk and it hurts!"

Things are getting tricky as the night-time conditions get worse, but Sara can always see the positive side!

"I'm in the driving rain in the pitch black on a country lane... No wind luckily but lovely, lovely Yorkshire folk have let me into God's own country, so thank you to them."

Keep going Sara! She is so, so close to her final stop of the day in Richmond.

Sara Cox
BBC Radio 2's Great Northern Marathon Woman

I’ve got to say, Gethin Jones is a proper mate. He was alongside me for the last 5 miles and I just had my music on... I couldn’t really say hi to people at the side of the road as I was just trying to dig deep and keep going.

I’d say, "Tell 'em, Geth", and he'd be like, "Thanks for coming out, she’s doing well - look at you, oh I like your dog madam", just talking to the crowd on my behalf. I want to say thank you to him, he just kept pace with me and he didn’t mind me completely ignoring him! He was just there next to me by my side. It really helped.

And I must say the ladies faces lit up on the side of the road when they clocked him!

Thank you for your continued messages of support for Sara, please keep them coming as every single one spurs her on further towards her goal. She's nearly at the end of day 3, with two long days still to go before she and her furry pal Pudsey make it to the town that is his namesake on Friday.

Sara Cox
BBC Radio 2's Great Northern Marathon Woman

Just the last bit to do, we've just set off again - I'm sore babe, so sore and the rain has started again. Just to add an extra dimension!

We've got to power through, my right hip is just killing but I’m just trying not to focus on it. I’m basically doing a lot of birthing breathing.

I guess I just try and dig deep, remember why we are doing this just keep going for the why, don’t worry about the how we're going to do it. I just put on some tunes, put on some drum and bass, listen to the beat.

Spoony is following Sara on the online tracker! You can follow Sara's progress on the Children in Need website, external too.

"I’m just looking at Sara’s tracker online here, she’s just going past Rock Castle which is to the east of Hatforth, and she’s going to finish in Richmond tonight. Good luck Sara, keep going we’re still supporting you - she’s probably got about 4 miles left tonight!"

And there's a great crowd building up to wait for her in Richmond - thank you to everyone coming out to support Sara, you are getting her through!