As the saying goes there are no such thing as strangers, just friends you’ve yet to meet.
Never did I imagine that this would be the case when I started to run. Like my fellow Run Wales champion Hannah, my running journey started in the dark. Ok, so I didn’t go so far as to wear a balaclava, but I did choose times of the day when no one could see me and ran in the remotest possible places.
You see, I was petrified of the opinions of other people. I thought people would laugh at me, poke fun, shout and all the other things that really dent your confidence which is what you really don’t need when you’re overweight, undertall and just starting out you running career.
Looking back now over 18 months of running, apart from the increased confidence and fitness, this biggest reward has been the new friends I’ve made. It all started with the tail runner at my first parkrun, who has a special place in my heart. More recently I’ve met the lovely Run Wales bloggers who pushed me to break my parkrun pb (that’s a whole other blog).
Last week I ran the Buff 10K with the lovely Jayne. If it wasn’t for running, we never would have met. Despite only ever chatting over Facebook, we met up and ran together. I love running with company as the miles seem to go faster. We met some lovely ladies from Cwm Ogmore RC (now I see them everywhere!) and it just proved my theory that the running community is a place of support and new friendships. Every race I’ve turned up at, I’ve seen people who I may have only spoken to once, but I’m always greeted with a smile and oodles of encouragement.
So, in my usual long winded way, what I want to say is: starting to run is really scary but, as a rule, runners are really nice people. 99.99% of the people you meet when running are amazing.
There is no such thing as strangers just runners you’ve to meet and become friends with. If you are really lucky, (like me), you might even find your running twin. [:cy]
As the saying goes there are no such thing as strangers, just friends you’ve yet to meet.
Never did I imagine that this would be the case when I started to run. Like my fellow Run Wales champion Hannah, my running journey started in the dark. Ok, so I didn’t go so far as to wear a balaclava, but I did choose times of the day when no one could see me and ran in the remotest possible places.
You see, I was petrified of the opinions of other people. I thought people would laugh at me, poke fun, shout and all the other things that really dent your confidence which is what you really don’t need when you’re overweight, undertall and just starting out you running career.
Looking back now over 18 months of running, apart from the increased confidence and fitness, this biggest reward has been the new friends I’ve made. It all started with the tail runner at my first parkrun, who has a special place in my heart. More recently I’ve met the lovely Run Wales bloggers who pushed me to break my parkrun pb (that’s a whole other blog).
Last week I ran the Buff 10K with the lovely Jayne. If it wasn’t for running, we never would have met. Despite only ever chatting over Facebook, we met up and ran together. I love running with company as the miles seem to go faster. We met some lovely ladies from Cwm Ogmore RC (now I see them everywhere!) and it just proved my theory that the running community is a place of support and new friendships. Every race I’ve turned up at, I’ve seen people who I may have only spoken to once, but I’m always greeted with a smile and oodles of encouragement.
So, in my usual long winded way, what I want to say is: starting to run is really scary but, as a rule, runners are really nice people. 99.99% of the people you meet when running are amazing.
There is no such thing as strangers just runners you’ve to meet and become friends with. If you are really lucky, (like me), you might even find your running twin.