Talking to marathon runner Armana Rai is a welcome antidote to the tech and pressure that can go hand-in-hand with running these days. She runs for the love of running – and so should you!

Words Rachel Ifans

Armana Rai’s running ambitions are refreshing. “Running is a part of my life,” she says. “I can’t imagine life without it. I want to keep running as long as I can.” For her, it’s not about times, distance or extraordinary feats of human endurance. It’s just that she really loves running.

It’s the kind of confession that at a party could illicit the odd eyebrow raise or perhaps a stifled yawn, but she’s in the right place here. Loving running is what we do. We just nod, grin and imagine high-fiving Armana as we pass on the running track.

Armana, incidentally, did fall out of love with the sport for a while a few years back, due to a tricky relationship break-up, but the love for running is back. With a vengeance. And she wants to share that love. She’s an evangelist with some very specific advice: get an online coach, ditch your watch (wait, what?) and listen to Westlife on repeat!

Unleashing a runner

Armana Rai is a 28-year-old accountant from London. She’s been running since she was 11 years old. “I was really unsporty in primary school even though I come from a very sporty family – my dad is a pro hockey player. I just wasn’t good at sports when I was younger.

“One year at school sports day, I won the 600m race by quite a margin and no-one could believe it. ‘Hang on, isn’t she a short, quiet girl, who’s really bad at sport?’, they said. Even my Mum didn’t believe me until she saw the pictures!” And just like that, Armana’s love of running was born: she entered a few school events and then at 12 joined her local athletics club. “I trained there between the ages of 12 and 18. I ran at county level and then worked at the track until I was 21, when I le_ to study Sports Management at Loughborough University.”