My Story

While I have always been able to run, I haven’t always enjoyed running (cross country races as a teenager up the side of a Welsh ski slope minus a shoe that had been sucked off in the mud was a particular highlight!).

Keeping fit and sport has always been part of my life. Swimming was my first love which into my 20’s migrated to winter sports and then cycling along with exercise and fitness classes later. Running was always somewhere in the background, whether it was running with my Dad and other family members prior to a Christmas dinner, a local park run or something a little more strenuous to blow the cobwebs away.

Like most people, when the Covid19 pandemic hit in 2020, I was forced to re-evaluate my exercise routines and sessions. I had done a bit of running after having my first child in 2018, however it wasn’t something that I did regularly. I am fortunate enough to live in a beautiful part of the world where I can run out of my front door, onto the moors, hills and river side and not see a soul until I return home. This was perfect during the pandemic when you weren’t allowed to see anyone and everything was shut, and then once we were allowed to run with one other person, I convinced my unsuspecting friend Kathryn to join with me. This lead to many hours of running and exploring in all weathers and seasons, dark and light, putting the world to rights, helping to keep us sane and fit at the same time. Recently I had my second child, and subsequently I have once again taken to running all weathers in the local area, this time with a larger group of ladies, who also enjoy the freedom and physical and mental benefits running offers.

I decided to enter the Great North Run this year, as I wanted to have something to train for, and, I wanted my children to see me taking part in a sporting event. Their Dad regularly competes in various cycling or running events, but I wanted them to see that you can be a busy working Mum, and still enter events and keep fit, thus hopefully inspiring them to keep active as they grow. While I have been fortunate enough to not have had any significant mental health struggles, I have supported very close friends though some dark times and I know how debilitating poor mental health can be. For these people, sport and exercise has always had a massive positive effect on their mood and recovery. Therefore, I’m running the Great North Run in September and fundraising for North Yorkshire Sport to enable them to train sports clubs and providers in mental health awareness as well as supporting people in the county to become physically active to help manage their mental health. If you would like to sponsor me, that would be great, or if you would like to join me on a run sometime, that would be great too. I can’t promise there won’t be any mud, bogs, cows or hills, however I can promise that it will be a fun adventure, and you will feel good when you have finished, and that’s all that matters really.