Unless it was to catch a bus, I didn’t start running until I was 67. Even then, I always got breathless. It never occurred to me that one day I would race. But on holiday in South Africa in 2017 with my husband George, 78, we joined our friend on a Parkrun (a free 5k that takes place on Saturday mornings across the world). It was lovely to jog at the foot of Table Mountain, under the trees. We liked it so much, we signed up to our local Parkrun at home in Hertfordshire.
We attended weekly and I discovered that I was quick. After a couple of years, I joined the local athletics club. At the annual club meet in 2019, I entered myself for the 800m. I’d never run on a track before, and the oldest age category was 17+. I was the only runner well past my teens.