Marie's Massive May Manchester Half Marathon

I’ve been running for almost three years. Before this I couldn’t even run to the end of my street. So, I started running for health reasons. I joined the Warrington Running Club and within nine weeks I built up my stamina and confidence. Our graduation day was to complete the Warrington Park Run – a 5k community event. It was the hardest thing of my life, I’ll never forget that feeling of completing my first race. It was amazing to achieve this challenge. Since then, I’ve run several 5k and 10k runs, including the Wilmslow 10k as part of a fundraising event to raise funds for my son’s football team.

I’ve never been brave enough to go for a half marathon but I have taken the plunge to take on this massive challenge. It’s going to be a big event, with 24 entertainment zones and the BBC are televising it too. I would also like to raise money for a good cause and what better way to raise money and challenge myself at the same time.

I didn’t listen to music before, but my friend brought me some running earphones. Now I listen to music and it’s been a complete game-changer!

I work at DWP and one of my work colleagues knew I was a runner and encouraged me to enter the half marathon. Then another colleague of mine said they had been personally supported by the Charity and so I thought I’ll do this for them and any other colleagues who need the Charity’s help.