I began running in January 2019, as part of a personal fundraising challenge to run at least one mile every day of the year, following the death of my brother-in-law, just a few weeks earlier. It gave me a way to focus my grief into something positive and productive, and an opportunity for a “timeout” mentally.
Having followed the C25k programme, I progressed through to completing my first half marathon just 9 months after starting and have now completed a further three half marathons, including the Great North Run in 2023.
My training regime for the past few years has focussed heavily on long distance swimming, a divergence that came about from running and then triathlon, however running is still the backbone of my personal fitness. Along with giving me a great cross-training fitness, running gives me the opportunity to socialise with friends/team mates and to challenge myself the most.
Running is the one sport I would always encourage any and every one to try!