Family Fitness Magazine

Anyone Can Run

I’ll never forget the day I became a runner. I was 30 years old and sitting in the pub after work, with a large glass of white wine in one hand and a Marlborough Light in the other; a situation I found myself in most nights of the week during that period of my life. A friend walked in and told me that a colleague of ours – a beautiful, tall, slim, 32-year-old, mother of two – had just been diagnosed with breast cancer.

“We’ve got to do something” I said “Something big to show her how much she means to us.” “We could run a marathon” said Colin, my 40-year-old, alcoholic, 20-a-day friend. “We could” said Vic, another diehard chain-smoking wine lover, and through the hazy glow of several glasses of wine it seemed like a really good idea at the time.

A couple of days later I pulled on an old pair of shorts and trainers and self-consciously edged my way out of the door. I tried to look cool as I bounced down the street but I felt breathless almost immediately. I did myself a deal that I would run to the lamppost and then I could turn around and run back home. I made it, I got back to the house and lay spread-eagled on the front room floor, head spinning, lungs bursting, convinced that if I was not already having a heart attack one would strike me any minute now. I glanced at my watch – five minutes. Five minutes! I honestly thought I had been running for at least half an hour, how in the world did I ever think I was going to run a marathon?

Exactly nine months later I crossed the line of the New York City Marathon in four hours and twenty one minutes, along with Colin, Vic and a handful of others. I won’t say it’s the easiest thing I’ve ever done or that I enjoyed every step, but it was a wonderful experience, and something that was well within my grasp.

Nine years and four marathons later I would definitely call myself a runner. I run on average three times a week, I do about three half marathons a year, I’ve run through two pregnancies and two lots of ‘getting myself back into shape after the baby’. I’ve run through snow and mud, through forests and along beaches, and I simply can’t imagine not having running as part of my life. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t run for three weeks over the Christmas period and I still regularly enjoy a bottle of Chardonnay (although thankfully no longer the Marlboroughs), but I know that if I go more than a month without running I get a strong urge to pull on my trainers and hit the pavement, which is a reassuring thought as I tuck into my second helping of Christmas pudding!

To get running you really only need three things; a decent pair of running trainers (get them from a specialist running shop), a goal (I started with a 5k run for life event) and a training plan. A good running top and some mates to run with are also a big help! Start out by running a minute, walking two minutes for 10 minutes and build yourself up to a 20 minute run – I believe that anyone who can run for 20 minutes without stopping can call themselves a runner. Run for 6 months and you’ll probably run for the rest of your life, and if you’re anything like me, you’ll rejoice the day you took up running.