Doncaster Pacers - Jane's story
04 July 2016
The Doncaster Pacers (Doncaster Athletic Club's Run England Group) have received funding to train more Run Leaders up this year and in return they have supported over 200 NEW runners.
As part of the funding agreement, a number of inspirational Run Journeys have been put to paper, and we share them with you.
Jane's Story
This is a summary - click here to read the full story - it's well worth it!
My life was turned upside down in 2014 when my healthy 6 year old son had a stroke whilst on holiday in Barcelona, it was 3 days later that he was diagnosed with Moyamoya Disease, an incurable progressive brain disease.
At a family get together, my sister mentioned the Doncaster Pacers, a running club she had recently joined and was really enjoying and thought that maybe I should try it out to have a little bit of time for myself to think about something other than hospital appointments and the diagnosis. I could not believe she could suggest something so ridiculous with everything that was going on in my life at that particular time.
After two brain operations in Zurich, we flew home with positive vibes that the surgery had gone well and had the best Christmas you could ever imagine. It was then when the words Doncaster Pacers started to play on my mind again and I thought maybe now was the right time to have a go. I emailed Martin and got myself onto their beginners' course.
Over the next few weeks the enormity of everything we had been through began to hit me and I found myself crying uncontrollably every night. My doctor who diagnosed me with post traumatic stress syndrome and sent me away with a prescription and offered me counselling. The very same day I turned up at the statue at 6pm in the freezing cold surrounded by a bunch of strangers all wanting to learn to run and I looked around quite bewildered wondering if this really could help me.
The first session passed quickly and I really enjoyed it and although only for a short space of time I stopped thinking about other things and just concentrated on my breathing and not falling over in the snow. I was hooked already and put the prescription straight in to the bin. I’m sure most people that started that course with me found me rude and quite strange as I kept my headphones in for the first 4 weeks because I wasn’t ready to share my story with anyone. 5 weeks in I decided to smile and say hello and people smiled back and started chatting and it was then I realised that the social side of the club would do me good. I can say from that day on I have never taken my earphones with me again and I have made some pretty special friends along the way.
I felt that my running was going from strength to strength - I entered the Aurora 5km then the Town Centre 5km and loved them both. My next race was the York 10km and the buzz I got from the day was unbelievable. I was so proud of myself that I went home and booked my first half marathon, after completing it I couldn’t quite believe what I had achieved.
Joining the Pacers has been one of the best decisions I have ever made, it has saved my sanity and helped me to achieve things that I never thought possible. There are no words to describe my gratitude to the run leaders who put themselves out week after week to help us reach our goals.
If you have an inspirational Run Journey you'd like to share, why not send it to us? Send it to Nicola Evans: nevans@englandathletics.org to be considered for inclusion online!
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