“RUNNING HELPED ME REDISCOVER THE JOY IN LIFE”

When Louise Wilce was dealt a double blow by post-natal depression and the death of her father , she never dreamed running could help her turn things around

“RUNNING HELPED ME REDISCOVER THE JOY IN LIFE”

When Louise Wilce was dealt a double blow by post-natal depression and the death of her father , she never dreamed running could help her turn things around

WORDS: LOUISE WILCE

INSPIRATION

When I started running, I never dreamed that a marathon could ever be a possibility. My first ever run was fairly typical: a cheap pair of running shoes which had been tested with a couple of laps of the living room, a Couch to 5K app dutifully downloaded, far too many layers of clothing on my lumpy, post- Christmas body. I waited until it was dark and headed out. It was January 2015 and it had been snowing. I didn’t dare venture too far from home but, after wheezing up and down a few of the cul-de-sacs near my house, I returned home triumphant, and freezing: I was a runner!

I wasn’t put off by being slightly overweight, or not wearing the right things, or having not exercised since a short stint on the netball team at school. Once I got my breath back, I felt energised and excited with a focus I’d not felt before. In fact, the only negative thought pulsing through my head that first night was, “I have got to get a sports bra!” In the first two weeks I ran 12 miles. I was hooked.