I was never sporty at school. As an adult I decide to do the Race for Life. There was no couch to 5k apps then so I printed off a programme & started by myself. After a while I thought it would be a good idea to join the gym. I had my induction in 2009. I remember part of it involved walking on the treadmill for a minute then jogging for a minute. I repeated this a couple of times then had to tell the instructor I needed to go outside & sit down otherwise I thought I might faint.

I had a programme down & started coming to the gym. At first I stuck to my programme in the gym but then I started going to classes. I found being in a class meant more focus & more fun.

When I first did the Race for life the challenge was just to get round the 5k but since then I have joined Thirsk & Sowerby Harriers & done many more events which gradually seemed to get longer; 5k, 5 mile, half marathon and even a marathon without stopping (never again).  I have mixed it up a bit & done cross country, a fell race, obstacle races (including organising a team form the gym) & sprint triathlons

At present I don’t have any big events planned but I come to at least 4 classes a week at the leisure centre & try to go to Harriers regularly. I also do parkrun when I can including volunteering. Fitness has become part of my routine and nothing beats a good boxercise class when you have had a stressful day (except maybe the week we got to box the instructor of insane circuits?)