Time and again in all my years of running confidence, or lack of, came up to bite me. Now here was a challenge that would put that issue to bed once and for all, in the most unexpected ways. I discovered that I could indeed do the distance, that I could run happily in a whole host of different terrains, and that I could actually go out and explore on my own.
In very large part this complete change in my running was due to a fortuitous meeting with the brilliant Sian Parry. An experienced trail and ultra runner, Sian delights in getting people off roads and out for adventures, opening my eyes to an entirely new way of running. As I started to build the distance we went for runs onto trails just outside the city, places I didn’t know existed yet were accessible from my front door. Longer adventures involved a train trip and running back, or running along to another station. Getting lost in a field or two was par for the course and half the fun. I didn’t need to be scared of getting lost anymore, my legs could do the distance so what did it matter if I accidentally added a bit extra? It was unbelievably liberating.
I started to take that sense of adventure into my solo runs, memorably when away on holiday and exploring a totally new area, something I was always too nervous to do alone in the past.
So this is where I am today, some 8 ½ years since I took those first, very tentative steps. Running for the sheer joy of it, finding new routes even in familiar places, doing so alone or with others, without fear or anxiety holding me back. And yes, I completed that marathon, running the route that wraps around our highest mountain with the most incredible sense of completeness and freedom. Finally, I really can run free.
I Run Free 