As you will no doubt be aware, I completed the Brighton Marathon a few weeks ago. I received everyone’s congratulations but what did surprise me was the number of people who said, ‘I’d never be able to do that, I’m not a runner’. I’ll let you into a secret, I’m not a runner either. I used to hate running, many years ago, I could just about run for 10 minutes. Then a few years ago, a group of us started going to Parkrun. A 5km run, held every Saturday morning at Hinchingbrooke Park which I used to complete it in around 30 minutes.
Then everyone’s life changed as Coronavirus hit and we had the first lockdown. The weather was great, and the gym was shut, what to do? Run, by myself, with a friend, it didn’t matter. It got me out the house and over time I began to really enjoy it and gradually increased my distance. Running 10k on a regular basis became the norm.
I’d always thought about running a marathon, several of my friends had already done so, but it was never really the right time. Work was busy, I didn’t have spare hours every week to go for a run. However, I decided that the right time would never arrive and made the decision to sign up for Brighton. I trained regularly, twice a week, (more would have been better) and eventually made it round the 26.2 miles. It wasn’t an amazing time, but it was under 5 hours and now I can say I’ve completed a marathon and tick it off my bucket list.
My point is that with a little perseverance we can become good, if not great, at something. Sports people may well have ‘god given talent’ but for the rest of us, putting in the work on a regular basis can result in us achieving great things. Not just in sport, we can learn a new language or to play the piano. Persevere and you’ll be amazed at what you can achieve. As Boldies we believe it’s never too late to learn a new skill!