Committee

I took up running in January 2009. I had given up smoking as my new years resolution and wanted something to keep me off the ciggies. I hadn’t heard of coach to 5k so I just used to run to lampposts until the gaps of walking became fewer. I quickly found I loved it and did my first official race in the February, 5 miles for Action Heart. Then in the March I did my first half the Ironbridge half marathon. I used to run most days and entered the London marathon in 2010. I’ve never been a fast runner or a good runner. Some might even call me a jogger. The thing with running is it doesnt matter how good you are, how wealthy you are its something pretty much anyone can do. Over the years I found one of my favourite things was entering races. I didnt chase pbs and knew I would never be one of the first back. However i loved the buzz of race day, the crowds and medal. It all made for a great day out and that get me inspired.

After I ran Manchester marathon in 2015 I decided I needed something more of a challenge so I entered race to the stones a couple of months later. A 100km ultra marathon. My husband thought I was nuts, but he agreed to drop me off and picked up at the finish line the next day. I planned for it badly and didn’t carry water. By the end I was so dehydrated but absolutely chuffed to bits that I had managed to finish it. In fact I even entered it a couple times more over the following years.

I had a short illness which involved a couple operations and part of my recovery meant I couldn’t run. When I tried to run again I really struggled and it left me demotivated. Its amazing how quickly you lose your fitness. I’ve been pretty much a lone runner over the years. I was/am a member of Vegan runners but this is more of an internet running club with a Facebook community. One of the ladies from the vegan runners community “Gail” put me in touch with Gavin Harrison who attended a running club she also attends called “Sneyd Striders “, but she said he also co-runs a C25K group in walsall. I contacted him straight away and in the same week I join him along with other wannabe runners at “Bloxwich run together” I completed the course and that was it I was hooked again. I started entering every race I could find. Then Gavin told me about the Sneyd striders pudding run, Ironically I had never been to Sneyd Striders or heard of the yearly event the pudding run, even though they would have been my closest club. After I had completed the 5 mile pudding run wearing my vegan runners club vest a couple of the members from Sneyd came over to introduce themselves. They chatted for ages and told me they too were vegans, vegan runners being their second club. I found them so friendly I suddenly realised what I had been missing all these years was a running club with people to run with. I turned up to club on a club night and found them so welcoming that I started running regularly with them. They were after a website designer so I put my name down to get involved even though I was a complete newbie to their club. I knew if able I wanted to give something back as they had given me my love for running back.

Apart from the running I like to attend cross-fit sessions (functional fitness) three times a week. I’m also a keen scuba diver and am qualified up to the level of master scuba. I’ve dived in many exotic locations around the world, including shark diving in South Africa & Egypt, Borneo and Malta. Most of my diving is done around the U.K, mostly in quarries. In my sedate moments I like to attend to my garden and am keen vegetable grower.

However I really love being a part of Sneyd! It’s great being part of a club where politics are irrelevant, it doesn’t matter where you’re from, what your story is, what your background is, how good a runner you are, everybody in the group is encouraging and supportive. It’s not just a running club it’s a community. They have kept me running with rich and supportive friendships.