BODY BEAUTIFUL

CHRISTINA MACDONALD EXPLAINS WHY RUNNING SHOULD BE ABOUT WHAT YOU CAN ACHIEVE RATHER THAN HOW YOU LOOK

BODY CONFIDENCE

I took up running 20 years ago to lose weight and attract a bloke. It all went to plan. I dropped a stone and gained his affections. Then I got a stress fracture and had to stop running. The weight crept back on and, well… you can guess the rest. It was a useful lesson: don’t lose weight to please a man. And be sure to run for the right reasons.

Maybe it’s just an age thing but, years later, my motivation for running has changed. Running used to be mainly about losing weight and looking good. In more recent years, I have been running to combat stress and feel healthy. I also run to achieve goals, rather than to chase that elusive sixpack. Women’s Running contributing editor Lisa Jackson, who has completed over 100 marathons and wrote the book Your Pace Or Mine?, summed it up perfectly when she told me: “It’s not about how you look. It’s about what your body can do.”

BETTER BODY CONFIDENCE

You might say we become more health aware and less concerned about aesthetics as we age. Events and marketing coordinator Megan McAstocker, 23, from Northamptonshire has transformed her body image through running. “Running has made me realise you don’t have to be a size 6 to be fit and healthy,” she says. “Seeing what I can achieve now with running in comparison to when I first started has made me so proud of what I can put my body through. When I was younger I was always comparing myself to my friends and others. I used to think: ‘Her arms are slimmer than mine’ or, ‘Her stomach is flatter than mine.’ I’ve realised we are all different and my ability to run further than I ever thought possible has made me realise that, just because I don’t have a flat stomach, doesn’t mean I’m not healthy.”