There was a time when the idea of going out in brightly coloured running shoes, tights, fluorescent tops adorned with gps watches just would never have happened - but not anymore!
If you run you will have adventures - your life will never be the same again… I started running again about this time last year after 6 months on the couch due to a motorcycle accident. Since then, wherever I go the running shoes go too. I’ve run in wild woods in Birmingham, along railway paths in Wales, past luxury yachts in Turkey, the beaches of France, the highlands of Scotland and the hills of Tblisi. In the latter city I reckon I was the only runner mad enough to run there… but in spite of the hills I did run. The people there, who are normally rather friendly, behaved in some very odd ways - I was running up the hill by a funicular railway (kind of shows how steep it was!) when people started making some rather rude signs with two fingers - turns out it means ‘victory’ and was their way of cheering the mad Englishman on.
I also did the Manchester 10K just days after the horrific bombing and saw what the power of running could really achieve. I started doing Park-Runs and found myself volunteering to guide blind and visually impaired runners and ended up in a documentary for the lottery show. I’ve lost two stone in weight and got my 10K time to sub 57mins and hope to get a sub 55 in Manchester this year and my 5K to sub 26.
I’ve seen places I wouldn’t have seen if I hadn’t put on the shoes and gone out, I’ve explored new areas, made new friends, got fitter, feel better and can’t imagine life without running. Indeed my Doctor has stopped suggesting I go on statins as my Cholesterol level has reduced itself back to absolutely normal. And so when my son bought me a new pair of running shoes this Christmas, it just felt like the most normal present in the world - because now I really do think I’m a runner - and it would never have happened if it weren’t for C25K - It really is a Very Big Adventure!
Today the new shoes ran their first 15K and liked it