Having ditched boozing, late nights, and microwave pizza, in 2013 I threw myself into running with Derby AC.
By the following spring, things had kicked on. I found myself mixing it up with the club runners and elite wave of the 10k Great Manchester Run. No room for fancy dress, selfie sticks or even wired earphones here.
We were right at the front, in the shortest of shorts, flyaway vests and best of all, our own private Portaloos.
With VIP swagger I headed to a bright green plastic door. It burst open and like an action figure square in front of me was running legend Hailie Gabreselesie. Oof!
Next was a warm up. High knees alongside Kenya’s Wilson Kipsang. He’d won the London Marathon the previous month. Wow!
And then there was the main man himself. The 10,000m world record holder. A five-time World Champion, with three Olympic golds – including the 5k and 10k double in Beijing.
A year earlier, I’d borrowed my sister’s gold hot pants to dress as him for pub crawl. Now he was standing next to me, surveying the opening section of the course; Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele.
How on Earth was this happening?! I was like Karl Power, the sporting imposter who’d gatecrashed Man United’s team photo at Bayern, stepped onto the Ashes outfield at Headingley and managed a Centre Court rally at Wimbledon.
Fizzing, I put my arm around him and said, ‘good luck’. It was a race after all. ‘Thank you!’ he graciously beamed back.
He won in 28 minutes and 23 seconds; flying past Old Trafford, industrial warehouses and a DJ’ing Clint Boon from Inspiral Carpets, before being brought home by thousands of cheering fans.
Nearly nine minutes later I crossed the line, 142nd overall but with the highest of runner’s highs.
