Women's Running Magazine

27 February 2014

In this job, there’s always a good reason to go out and run. The readers who write to me on a daily basis with their amazing stories are ordinary people who inspire me all the time. When I have a bad day, feel tired, think I’m coming down with something and use all of these excuses as a reason to skip a run, I open my inbox and find an email from someone who has overcome adversity by running. Quite often, I receive emails from women who have beaten life-threatening illnesses and gone on to complete marathon after marathon, or readers who have overcome depression or tragic life events and used running as their survival tool. I find it amazing and inspiring that so many women have such inner strength. If you’ve been running for a while now, think about who you can inspire to take up running and change their life for the better. In this issue, we meet an amazing lady, Penny, who took up running later in life and has since completed 43 marathons. What’s more, she’s getting fitter and faster. Who said that getting older means you gets slower? See page 22. If you want to challenge yourself to get fitter or try something new, find out how you can get in shape for an obstacle race on page 38. If you’ve been injured and are nervous about starting up again, find out how to return to running safely, on page 42. If you’re gearing up for your spring marathon, find out how to avoid common training mistakes that many runners often make on page 30. Or, if you prefer a shorter distance, read our rundown of the best 5K and 10K races on page 34, and you may just find your next challenge. Speaking of which, if you’d like to run a 10K this summer, sign up for the Women’s Running 10K Race Series. We’ve got ten events in ten different locations nationwide. Visit wr10k.co.uk or see page 20. Keep in touch on our Facebook page or Tweet me anytime. Christina Macdonald, Editor-in-Chief