By Victoria Maleski

Victoria enjoying the new Peacehaven Parkrun

I am not your typical runner. I guess it stemmed from comments from PE teachers and fellow pupils at school, as I was usually the last person to be picked into teams for sports… but I am fairly determined and enjoy challenging myself.

I took early retirement a couple of years back and moved back to Seaford at around the same time. I have enjoyed the new-found freedom and have used the opportunity to see what I can accomplish.

I was tempted by the random Seaford Striders Facebook advert about the c25k programme, but didn’t really make up my mind to take part until the actual day. I’m overweight, in my mid 50’s, had regularly walked our dogs, but committing to learning to run would be a massive step for me.

Any fears I had about the experienced runners looking down on us quickly disappeared – I have found everyone at Seaford Striders to be so friendly and encouraging. This has made such a big difference to my running confidence. I keep saying to myself that the only person I am running against is myself.

The first session was personally challenging, but I kept to the c25k programme, doing two sessions by myself in between the Wednesday evening Striders session. I can now look back at what all of us on the c25k programme have achieved. We may all run at different speeds and have different ambitions, but I am sure we all can feel really proud of the progress we have made. None of this would have been possible without all the Striders who have given up their running time to help us in that process. I am touched by their kindness and encouragement.

I am writing this after completing my third 5k Parkrun in 3 weeks. I still can’t believe I have managed to do this and to be enjoying it so much (well, once I finish each Parkrun!). It is tough, but there is a massive sense of achievement.

So, it is a big thank you from me to Seaford Striders and I am sure also from the other c25k “graduates”.

Thank you to Victoria for sharing her Couch to 5k journey!