In this week’s news, a self-confessed bookworm completed her first 10K in the Worthing Seafront race in under an hour.
The bookworm, who only started running ‘properly’ in June of this year, ran her first race alongside her fiancé who cheered her the whole way by her side.
Whilst training, she battled a 2-month long virus over Summer, but was close to giving up.
“I was coughing up the entire time of those first two months,” she said. “It was horrible. I’d finish my run and feel great for a couple of minutes, but then I would just start coughing and coughing again.”
But it all changed.
“Before, I was running 5k in just under 40 minutes. But then I paid for the 10K race and thought, well, I’d better start training properly… But I did it! I’m so proud of myself. I planned to do it in under an hour… Even better, I did it in 56 minutes, 40 seconds!”
She recalls the steady sound of hundreds of feet against the pavement in close proximity, before spreading out along the route. The sun tried to break through the clouds but didn’t quite manage that day, with the side wind from the sea battling against them.
She sprinted across the orange splat of a finish line in Beach House Gardens just as the rain started to fall, much to the surprise and frustration of a pink-cladded runner she overtook, shortly followed by her fiancé (after the unimpressed female).
“I’ve got the running bug!”
Clearly, as she’s booked to run a half marathon in Autumn 2026.
Big congratulations to the bookworm-now-runner.
That bookworm is me. I’m the runner. And I’m bloody proud of myself so wanted to share it 😀 Onto the next race!
Lizzie's Week 