25–26 Jan 2025 84 days to go! #RunShow Tickets

Marie Collinson

On 15th January 2015 I quit smoking after 27 years! Having spent a few years drinking each weekend and wasting money I decided enough was enough. To take my mind off things I decided to start running so gradually built myself up to a comfortable pace trotting around the streets doing a few miles. The first few weeks were awful but it got better and I kitted myself out with some nice new running gear.
After a couple of month I decided maybe it was time to join a running club so messaged a man about joining Wallsend harriers of which he was a member. He took me to meet the team and we exchanged numbers. He was running London marathon that year so I followed on tv. At this time we had just been messaging each other. All day heard nothing from him until the following evening he told me he had a groin strain and did not finish the race,he sounded very upset so I arranged to visit him. We became very good friends and I helped him get around for shopping and stuff. A couple of weeks went by and he had an x-ray where he found out his hip was broken! Our friendship grew into a relationship and i helped him recover,we trained together, gradually he got fit and we became inseparable. That christmas I won a race place through the running club and he still had a good for age place but we decided to defer as it was too early for him to do longer distance. We went to London anyways and supported some friends. We went back to the point he was injured (miles 24) and he seemed so down about it all. It was then i decided i was going to propose. The following year we sorted everything to run london together and on 23.4 17 at mile 24 i popped the question. He said yes and we still run everywhere together now! The wedding is a bit of a secret at the moment but I do hope to run New York marathon in 2020 when it will be the 50th event and also Johns 50th birthday but that’s another story! Running has vastly improved my life on every level. It also introduced me to Racecheck ( one of your exhibitors at this years show)where in Nov 2017 I became a #visorclub member. This has been a valuable tool to have in the running world and has given me the courage to stop people wearing the logo at races just to grab a selfie. I have found others local to the area who I would never have met without Racecheck and struck up friendships with them. Always looking for a chance to meet up for a photo! It’s a fab community and a great asset for any runner. Racecheck provides a list of past and future races all over the world. Members are offered discounts to races and merchandise.Since I started running I have earned 53 medals of which 2 are marathons! But i would love to complete all 6 majors!
Ran 147 parkrun… 49 of these are different events
My visor goes wherever I go! It’s already been over to Kefalonia and on 16th Feb 2019 it’s my 150th parkrun which will be taking place in New York both visor and bobble hat will be needed as I think it could be chilly!I am also now a member of the UKRunchat Running Club