As I laid bronzing myself on a sun-lounger in the Sunshine State, with my head buried in Jane Costello’s, ‘Girl on the Run’, much to my boyfriend’s disapproval, I was desperately trying to seek some inspiration. Having been on a health-kick for what seems like, well forever, actually began seven months ago when I decided to tackle my twenty a day smoking habit and attempt to shift some weight. Not being the greatest lover of running but knowing it’s a great way to shed some pounds, I dragged and I literally mean I had to drag myself down to my local gym and climb onto that dreaded treadmill. I made myself endure a 5k run of pain weekly and much to my surprise I actually began to enjoy it. Had anybody suggested to me at Christmas that I would have been carrying out such a physical activity and weekly at that, probably would have made me hysterically fall off my seat laughing. As most of my friends and family know, I’m not exactly the most energetic and motivated person at the best of times being that I never normally surface, from what my father regularly refers to as my ‘pit’, before 1pm.
The 5k runs gradually became 7k runs and before I knew it, I had been persuaded by a close friend to run Tesco’s 10k Race For Life in order to raise money for Cancer Research, although I’m still adamant I must have been drunk when I agreed to run such a distance. I felt the 10k pressure rising and I wondered how I was ever going to complete it without suffering a cardiac arrest, being carted off in an ambulance and being hospitalised. This time last year I was happily and drunkenly stumbling my way through my summer as any other average student does. What had I signed up for?
As I read the blurb of Costello’s book that my mother had generously donated to me before I jetted off on my holiday and after I agreed to run what seems to be a stupidly long distance especially when I drive, I couldn’t help but recognise the resemblance that my life had to that of the novel’s protagonist, Abby Rogers. For those people who haven’t yet read the book, I advise that you prepare to laugh your head off the whole way through. Abby, who joins a running club not necessarily to become fit but because she has one hell of a crush on the instructor, something that in my single days I myself probably would have done, signs herself up for a half marathon. Although my run wasn’t quite as daunting as this, her worries and dietary slip ups when feeling down in the dumps became very familiar to me.
Although I found the book more than enjoyable and left me itching to read Jane Costello’s next instalment of literary works, I found my inspiration elsewhere. Feeling butterflies in the pit of my stomach whilst struggling to maintain my weak bladder and trying to disguise my sweaty palms on the day of the run, I sought solace in the thousands of women that had also signed up to run the 10k. They were my inspiration. As I read the loving gestures and notes that had been written and pinned to their sports attire, I suddenly realised how worth while the cause was and suddenly I felt a tug at my heart-strings. My worries had vanished and I just wanted to get on with it. What is an hour of pain compared to a life-threatening illness like Cancer I reminded myself?
I tackled the torrential rain, muddy puddles and steep inclines, running through the finish-line sodden and utterly filthy. It was amazing. I completed my race within 70minutes, which to most athletes is no record time but I managed to do it, minus the cardiac arrest.
I tackled the torrential rain, muddy puddles and steep inclines, running through the finish-line sodden and utterly filthy. It was amazing. I completed my race within 70minutes, which to most athletes is no record time but I managed to do it, minus the cardiac arrest.
I have recently signed up for a 5k run to help raise money for St. Luke’s Hospice in Basildon on August 14th. It is the admiration that I have for Cancer patient’s bravery and their constant strength that will continue to encourage me to support various charities and take part in these runs. Whether you have won, lost or are still fighting your battle against Cancer, you are my inspiration.
