Kent’s Dame Kelly Holmes has told KSN why she’s running the London Marathon and her love of parkrun.
The 45 year old double Olympic champion from Hildenborough near Tonbridge, is well known for winning both the 800 metre and 1500 metre races at Athens in 2004, but some twelve years later, she will don her running shoes once more, to take on the ultimate challenge of 26.2 miles.
Due to turn 46 in the few days before the prestigious event in London on April 24th, Dame Kelly will line up alongside tens of thousands of other hopeful runners.
Having never completed a marathon before, Kelly goes into the race in little over five weeks time, stepping out of her comfort zone and into the unknown.
When asked by Kent Sports News as to why she was taking on the Virgin London Marathon, Dame Kelly was clear of her reasons:
“Why did I want to do it? Because, I’ve never said never, I’ve never not said I wouldn’t run a marathon. Last year I supported a couple of friends at London and the atmosphere was just incredible.”
“Seeing everybody run, of all shapes and sizes, ability and disability made me think, good on you and it made me think, maybe I could do one once and I came into this year thinking, if I’m ever going to do one, then why not do it in an Olympic year and I didn’t want to wait another four years as god knows what would be happening by then with this body!”
“I thought if I am going to do it, then I am only going to do it for a reason. Yes there is the challenge, but if I can raise the profile of charities whilst doing it.”
“I didn’t want to pick just the one charity as I wanted people to have empathy or a connection with the causes I have chosen.”
“I’ve gone big with trying to raise £250,000 for five charities – I must be crazy!”
Dame Kelly will be running for five causes close to her heart, Mind, Hospice in the Weald, Myeloma UK, The Pickering Cancer Drop-In Centre and the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust.
With those five great causes in the forefront of her mind, Dame Kelly has been out training ahead of the big day, but admits she has already had some pretty hefty setbacks:
“It’s been tough. I was an international athlete for about twelve years, but I have been retired for eleven years and people forget that.”
“Running hasn’t been a big part of my life for the past three years. I go the gym, I like high interval training and just do the odd run for fitness.”
“On January 4th I decided I was going to train for the marathon, but my body isn’t liking it. I have been in hospital having to be sedated and having an injection in my spinal cord to ease the inflammation in the nerves.”
“I haven’t set myself a target, I just want to get there in one piece.”
“I am a fore foot runner, so I am used to running on my toes and that puts a lot of pressure on my lower back and spine and I’m feeling the effects of that.”
“Biomechanically I am having to change the way I have ran all of my life. That’s really affecting me and I want to get there injury free, so I’m listening to what I’m being told.”
“I’m going through all of this just to make sure I am ready and I’ve got to make sure these last five weeks of prep are done right, I do my runs, I recover properly, eat properly and I haven’t been doing that if I’m honest.”
“In my head, my mentality tells me I need to concentrate for five weeks solid, get a couple of long runs in and don’t overdo it, as that’s not what it’s about for me.”
As part of her preparation for the marathon, Dame Kelly has joined the thousands of people across the country that take part in parkrun on Saturday mornings, a very social timed 5 kilometre run.
With sixteen locations now across Kent, parkrun is proving to be extremely popular with hundreds of people of all shapes and sizes taking part.
The reasons behind joining in with parkrun are clear for Dame Kelly and she explained the benefits for her and others:
“Running with people is great as I run on my own generally and I’m actually doing it as I want some enjoyment from my running. This isn’t about elite sport for me at all, in fact it is so detached from athletics and it’s the fun part of what I am doing.”
“I’m loving all the interaction on social media and turning up at parkrun with my barcode, jump over a fence five minutes before the start, listen to the briefing and then run with everyone else.”
“I’ve enjoyed the selfies at the end and if that, in any shape, manner or form is inspiring anyone else, then great”
“The one thing about running with people and going into the London Marathon, is I have got to make sure I don’t get carried away at the start as that can ruin you.”
“I have just got to put my music on and run my own race.”
It’s at parkrun that Dame Kelly has heard incredibly inspirational stories and one is very clear in her mind:
“What I like is all the different types of people I have met and I ask about why they are there.”
“When you get so many people that have lost so much weight and they were never runners, when they have been encouraged by their friends.”
“The first one I did was in Tonbridge and no one knew I was going there, I’ve then done Basildon and Horsham and there was a lady in Basildon and she told me she’d lost nine stone. She was encouraged by others and realised she didn’t have to stand on the sidelines, she could run.”
“You have people that begin with walking and their objective is to walk and run, and maybe jog around once in their life and I love that!”
“It’s about the social interation and making people feel good about themselves, it’s about fitness and the health benefits you get from doing it.”
“It can be about personal bests and that’s what it needs to be for some runners as it’s part of their training.”
“I have absolutely loved being involved with that side of it.”
One of the lasting legacies of running the marathon is the inspiration it will create for others and Dame Kelly is hoping young people will look to their parents as their sporting heroes:
“I think it’s so important to get young people integrated into sport as there are so many benefits from that.”
“It is the social side, it’s about confidence, it’s about raising your self esteem, it’s about having a purpose, having a goal and for me, young people need to take part in sport.”
“Their parents have a big role to play in being a role model, but leading my example. If you want the kids to eat and live better, the parents have got to do it.”
“Having a healthy family life and having sport and fitness involved, is really, really healthy.”
You too can support Dame Kelly Holmes as she runs the London Marathon here: