“RUNNING HAS TAUGHT ME NOT TO GIVE UP”
Not only has she founded a parkrun and a mar athon but she’s run o ver 180 mar athons, three 10-in-10 mar athon events and a 100-miler – despite having a serious knee disorder. Lisa Jack son meets Melanie Sturman…
I was most definitely not born to run,” says Melanie Sturman, 46, from Thetford in Norfolk. “I don’t find running easy, but hey, who does? I have a congenital knee disorder where my kneecap does not sit correctly so it rubs on the bone and, because it’s out of alignment, I don’t have a natural running gait. As a result, when I started running in 2011, it was difficult and I couldn’t even run a mile. Being overweight didn’t help, but I was determined to succeed so I taught myself to slowly jog for five minutes and walk for one minute. It took me three months to work up to walk/running 15 miles.