Justine Flett, 51, a business support manager from Westgate in Kent, never envisaged she’d go from Couch to 5K... and then on to becoming a record-breaking ultra-runner!
WORDS: JUSTINE FLETT AND KATY SUNNASSEE. IMAGES: JUSTINE FLETT. ⋆Thorn, J. (2011) Passion for distance: The story of my 100 marathons. Melbourne: Melbourne Books.
It was in 2015 that my partner, Rob, had a minor health scare. Being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes on Christmas Eve, it was a wake up call that his lifestyle needed to change. It made us both go on a mission to get stronger and fitter.
We began with the NHS Couch to 5K programme and the first few runs were challenging. We both pushed on and after nine weeks we managed 5K without stopping. I’d gone from being a complete novice to having caught the running bug, so now I wondered what I could do next. If I could do 5K, could I perhaps run 10K?
That first 5K was in February 2016 and we kept on running 3-4 times a week. We really had no idea what we were doing, but gradually we kept increasing the length of a run until we got up to 10K. I remember at the very beginning my calves would not stop aching, but the soreness always disappeared once I’d been running for about 10 minutes.
Then in August of 2016, I heard that some of our running friends had entered our local Thanet Coastal Half/ Full Marathon. Secretly, I dared to believe I might be able to run the half. I confidentially asked some of our friends if they thought a half marathon was possible? Being such a positive bunch, they replied, “Yes, no problem! If you can run 10K you can run a half marathon”. And to my amazement, Rob agreed to run it with me! I have to say I have never been so tired and sore as we were that afternoon following our first half marathon – we both agreed that there was no way we would ever be able to run a marathon.
However, after a good night’s sleep and experiencing the “runner’s high”, I approached a local sports therapist and discussed with him how I might go about training for a marathon, and explained that I didn’t need to finish fast, just be in good condition when I did. He worked with me and created a training plan to take on my first marathon in March 2017 in Brighton, and Rob was going to run with me.
The plan took me through my first winter of running outside for long periods. It was the first time I had to work out what to wear and keep the temperature right, and learn how to see where
