My love for running began back in 2016 when I decided to venture outside to run, making a change to my routine of running on a treadmill. At first I was taken aback by the major difference to running indoors, but I didn’t let that put me off.
I started in my local park and would run around it twice a week. After a few months, I decided to enter a Race for Life 5k event with my niece. I enjoyed it so much, a couple of weeks later I entered and completed my first 10k race in Kingston.
In 2017 I ran a half marathon with little training, I surprised myself on how well I did and felt like I could definitely do this again. A few months later I bumped in to a friend while running in the park. We were extremely happy to discover that we both ran and we’ve been running together ever since.
My friend went on to set up a running group called Black Girls Do Run UK in 2019, after noticing a lack of representation of black women at races. Being a part of a like-minded community doing what I love has had such a positive impact on my wellbeing, mentally and physically.
My running journey has enabled me to take on challenges like running a marathon, something I thought I could never do. Through running I have met some incredible people and embraced the running community with open arms. I believe it’s not about how fast you are but how far we can go together.
I am currently leading a walk/run group programme in my local area, along side a Community Sports & Wellbeing Charity. The aim is to provide the fundamentals of walking and running for beginners as well as people returning to physical activity. Going forward I would like to explore trail running and do an ultra marathon. My goal is to motivate others to run and support them on their journey.