RUNNER OF THE MONTH - June 2020

Fi gave us her story:

"I started running in November 2017 so I could do the Santa fun run to help raise funds for our local park. On the day I had crippling anxiety and didn't go. Unfortunately my friends little boy got leukemia, my friend had her life taken and my brother in law was suffering badly with a new chemo treatment shortly after the race and it truly seemed insignificant from that point on. That Christmas taught me something very valuable. Life is precious and we must not waste it. I watched my brother in law lose the use of his legs shortly after Xmas and I vowed to run for those that couldn't. After Jason's death at 27 to a very rare bone cancer called ewings sarcoma I signed up to do a sky dive...then a half marathon. At the time I used to run on and off,
 

I didn't prioritise running so after the six weeks holidays I had 6 weeks to train for Manchester half marathon and completed it in 2.09. I was so happy because I had never run that long at that pace. The thought of running another 13 miles after that was a complete no go but I stillsigned up for Edinburgh Marathon.

I trained for that marathon religiously and finished in 4.37.45 without stopping and it felt like a huge milestone in my life. That's when I had started to join running groups on social media and found the greatest support network there is.

I suddenly began seeing myself improve with the support of others and took part in various races like the Great North run which saw me get a PB of 1.56.31 despite having calf issues half way around. I finished the year raising hundreds of pounds.

This years challenge started with red January, instead of just doing some easy runs I challenged myself to run a 5 mile a day average and ended up running 200 miles in January, I use to average 200km prior to this. I then decided I would try to run as many days as I could and now the challenge is to run every day this year as part of my fundraising.

This year I was chosen to run the London marathon for Sarcoma UK, it is to honor my friend who right now is terminally ill with a very similar cancer to the one my brother in law had. I hope I get to see him in the crowd I really do.
Instead of getting downhearted about the lack of races of which I've had many I have ticked off my own bucket lists.

I ran a field ultra, 79 laps of my friends field which was my first ever 50km run and with almost 4000ft of ascent it was fairly brutal.

I really wanted a sub 4 marathon in London so I ran one on my own earlier this month and got a PB of 3.59.27. I have also smashed all my other PBS at every distance all whilst on my run-streak. My toughest week to date was running 89 miles so I could hit 1000 miles at the end of May.

I am working towards hitting 1200 miles by the end of the month and due to celebrate running every day for 6 months.

I may have focused on my times throughout this post. It is an indicator for many of us with our own progress but It would be wrong of me to focus solely on that.

I run trails more often than not, I love to explore the hills and I stop and take photos and I don't worry about time. Running is my medicine, I suffer from anxiety and depression and it's quite literally saved my life. I have ran when I struggled to get out of bed, I have ran with tears streaming down my face but mostly I have ran with a smile on my face because running has given me so much joy.

I have made so many wonderful friends all over the world and some very close to home. I am proud to be a runner. Thanks for all your support, it really makes a difference.
Keep on running....your way"