From absolute beginner to London Marathon runner in one year – Deb’s story
After running for just over 12 months, Deb Kavanagh’s own determination found her completing the recent London Marathon. She puts this down to the support & encouragement she received from other runners.
“Post having my baby in August 2009 I was encouraged by friends to join the SE Fitness buggy walks through the park. ‘ A great way to get fit and lose baby weight as well as meet like minded young moms’ was what I was told constantly, so what had I too lose?! If only I had known what this would lead to….
Those friends they were right, it was everything they said and I loved it. It was whilst on one of these walks I got chatting to Jac Thompson, an SE Fitness leader. Jac not only led the buggy walk but also some of the running groups, the passion Jac had for the running was clear, however my initial response was ‘ I couldn’t even run for a bus!
Clearly determination is one of Jac’s other skills and in Jan 2010, I found myself one very cold evening at Wyndley signing onto Group1. Walk a minute, run a minute… how hard could it be?… Honestly, not that hard, mainly because the support and encouragement you receive as part of one of the SE Fitness groups knows no bounds.
A bit of hard work and determination saw me steadily progress through the groups and by Oct 2010 I finished the Birmingham Half Marathon in 1 hour 55. Naturally, the next step had to be the 2011 London Marathon, so what if I had only been running less that 12 months, I had all of the support and encouragement I needed through the running groups and the amazing friendship group I had by now managed to build up. This combined with a bit of determination; I managed to complete the 2011 London Marathon in 4 hours 16.
Never, 18 months ago when I set out on this adventure did I think I would be completing a marathon and never would I have done it if I hadn’t joined SEFitness and had their continual support and encouragement”