happyrunner1

Got into running when I entered the Great South Run in 2003 for charity with a bunch of people from work. Since we were all competitive journalists we all started training (not having a clue what we were doing) so we could beat each other. I raised £1200, had such a great day and got the fastest time in our team, but I knew I could do better. I caught the bug...

The guy who sold me my first proper running trainers said "If you can run 10 miles, you can run a marathon" - that never left me and the next thing I know I'm running in the London Marathon 2004. Injured. Because I did it all wrong.

And so I joined the Winchester & District AC to learn how to train properly and beat my marathon time. That changed everything. Suddenly I'm surrounded by inspirational people, training 4/5 times a week and introduced to the pain of sprints and hill sessions. Three more marathons later, I was at peak fitness and training for the Berlin Marathon 2008 (on for a time of 3hrs 45mins). Then, with 4 weeks to go, I broke my leg...

After a year of not running / recovering I moved to London with work and eventually joined Serpentine RC. I'm now back to regular training and loving it. Only really running 10k and 10 mile races at the moment (my favourite distances) but after saying I'd never put myself through another marathon, I'm signed up for Edinburgh Marathon 2012 with an ancient PB of 3hrs 57mins to beat. Bring it on...