Ruth's Story
I wanted to do something for the charity and to raise awareness on ectopic pregnancy and do something that was out of my comfort zone. I do train a lot already with my job being in a gym, I had done CrossFit style training and road cycling mainly. Running was never my thing but if I was aiming to do some fundraising I wanted to do something challenging for me, something I really had to work for to achieve. A marathon was a bucket list thing for me so I thought if I am going do it I may as well pick somewhere cool to do it, as I may never do something like this again. I had never been to Paris, so a marathon around the city would be an amazing way to see it.
It’s crazy though when you sign up for a marathon you don’t think of the hours put into training, the long runs in the wind and rain in not so sunny Northern Ireland but knowing I had to do this with all the fundraising that was going on it kept me motivated to keep going.
You don’t realise how far 26.2miles is until you’re running it!
Although with not being a runner I did enjoy running more than I thought, I was very lucky to have a friend, Paul, who ran with me on the day and who kept me company in all of the training, this was his 10th so he was well experienced when it came to marathons.
I was given advice the night before the marathon:
“Split your marathon up, Run your first 10 miles with your head, second 10miles with your legs and last 10k with your heart” and wow was she right! The first 19/20 miles felt ok the last 6 miles took all of my heart, my everything. It was tough but nothing was ever as tough as what I had been through with previous miscarriages and ectopic pregnancy, and I had to remind myself on the last 6 miles why I was doing this and all the money that has been raised is so worth it. It was an amazing experience I can’t actually believe I did it, I am proud of myself for how far I’ve come and crossing that finish line was a massive achievement.
Please take a look at Ruth’s fundraising page if you feel inspired to donate
Our heartfelt thanks goes out to Ruth for her passion and determination running in the Paris marathon raising much needed funds and awareness. If you want to raise funds and awareness for The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust, please visit our fundraising page. You can also email our Fundraising Co-ordinator Jill who will be very happy to help and guide you: Jill@ectopic.org.uk.