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This runner profile features Vicki Lowes, who is in an on-off relationship with running. My sidekick (or thorn in my side – not sure which, to be honest!) in life, she is as stubborn as they come, so is currently trying again to get back into it – and I don’t think she will give up!
If you’d like to contribute and share your own journey with running, please ping us an email to: hello@runicenirun.com
| Name | Vicki Lowes |
| Age Group | 40 – 45 (just!) |
| Location | Great Ellingham, Norfolk |
| Profession | Teacher |
| When did you start running? | I did a few Race for Life events in my early 20s. I properly started running after I pledged to myself, while on a hospital bed receiving chemo and being unable to walk, that I would do a 10k that following year for Cancer Research UK. And I did. That was back in September 2011 and I’ve had an on-off relationship with it since. |
| Why did you start running? | When you are unable to do something as seemingly simple as walking, you desperately want to be able to do that… and I wanted to prove to myself that my body was capable of way more than just enduring the chemo and what felt like endless blood and platelet transfusions. |
| What’s been your biggest running-related achievement? | That very first 10k was a huge achievement. I ran the first 5k without stopping and jeffed the rest. |
| What are your future running aims? | I’d like to train properly for a half marathon – I’ve done two. My first was the Great North Run in 2017 – I didn’t do more than 10k in the run up to it though. My second was during lockdown – a virtual one – where I ended up in agony halfway through. Again, I didn’t train properly, so I really only have myself to blame. |
| What’s been your running high? | Breaking that 60-minute barrier and coming in at dead on 59 minutes in a 10k race. |
| What’s been your running low? | Suffering from shin splints and tendonitis of the rotator cuff. Both injuries set my running back significantly. |
| Current running shoes | Asics – I don’t know what type, though! |
| Advice for a beginner | I am a beginner again at the moment as keep falling out of love with it, so I guess I’d advise someone to persevere. The endorphins after a run are worth the effort! |