Issue 22 - July 2012 (PDF) - Chipping Norton Times

48
Carrying the torch
What you can do when you put your mind to it!
By Katrina Harrison, Stow
The 9th of June was a day I will never forget as I was privileged
to carry the Olympic Torch in my birth town Glasgow. I was
nominated as a result of the fundraising I’ve done for UNICEF
by running two marathons in two months (never having run a
marathon before!)
It all started two years ago in May 2010 when I had a major
operation which normally takes about 3 months to recover
from but as soon as I felt well enough (after about 10 weeks) I
started working with my trainer Ed Shaw at the Cotswolds
Health and Fitness Club, gradually increasing the amount of
exercise I was doing. It wasn’t long before I was able to do an
hour’s exercise interspersed with short gentle runs.
My overall recovery suffered a set back when I slipped and fell
on a very wet walkway in Paddington Station and sustained a
complicated fracture in my right hand which meant I had to
undergo several more operations. This meant Ed had to get
creative with my work outs so lower body and running took the
place of hand and arm exercises!
In April 2011 I went to see the spectacle that is the London
Marathon and when I saw the numerous shapes, sizes and ages
of the people taking part I thought to myself “I could maybe do
that”! I chatted with Ed about it and he agreed I could and so
my training began in earnest. I applied for a place and was
successful. By the end of 2011 I had run three half marathons,
much to my amazement.
As the London Marathon is one of the worlds biggest fund
raising events I decided to run for UNICEF and raise funds for
the amazing work they do for the poorest children around the
world, giving them a chance to live as children should. I set up
my fundraising page and as soon as I did friends, family and
workmates started pledging amazing amounts of money and
I’m thrilled to say I made it to the finish line and in doing so
raised over £4,000 for UNICEF.
Not content with that I was talked into entering the Edinburgh
Marathon and whilst I thought it would be a good ‘fall back’ in
the event something happened that meant I could not
compete in London I secretly hoped I could actually do both!
On the day of the marathon the sun was blazing and
temperatures did not fall below 26 degrees but I am thrilled to
say I not only finished but knocked 30 minutes off my running
time for London. Not bad for a 50 year old who had never run
a marathon before! It shows what can be done when you put
your mind to it and with help of local experts like Ed my trainer
and Richard Rasdall of The Honey Pot, who is the best sports
masseuse I have ever encountered!
So having done two long runs it was great to take part in the
Olympic Torch relay. It was one run I really looked forward to,
in fact, it just wasn’t long enough!
If you would like to help with fund-raising, Katrina’s fund
raising page is fundraise.unicef.org.uk/MyPage/Katrina-
Harrison-Fund-Raising-Page Thank you.