After 10 years of well-meant teasing about how odd runners are, Lucy decided she was going to give it a decent stab, perhaps inspired in part by the London Marathon. She embarked with determination on the NHS Couch to 5k programme on 9 April, and with suitable tweaks continued to progress with three runs every week, the plan right from the start being to do her first 5k as a parkrun on 16 June. I’ve been out with her on a few runs, but she’s done most on her own, including a couple while away on the Isle of Wight.
I even got Lucy a mention on the 13th June episode of the Free Weekly Timed podcast with Vassos Alexander and Louise Ayling, wishing her well for her forthcoming first parkrun.
![](https://www.stephenafoot.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/2018-06-16-Southend-Lucys-first-with-Claire.jpg)
Claire ran with Lucy so I ran my own race, passing them towards the end of the second of three laps. I recovered, then ran back to find them and run in the remaining part. Lucy was finding it tough, and kept asking how much further, to which I didn’t really have a precise answer. Near the end, Claire ran on in order to get a photo at the end.
![](https://www.stephenafoot.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/2018-06-16-Southend-Lucys-first.jpg)
Well done Lucy – a great achievement, and shows what can be done with determination.