Congratulations to St Veep's own Marathon runner

Wednesday 1st May 2019

Congratulations to Katie Wilks of St Veep who ran the 2019 Marathon.  Please see below an extract from the e-mail that she sent family and friends following this great achievement.

"On Sunday I had the great privilege to run the London Marathon for Spinal Research.  You read and hear so much about the London Marathon, but it is hard to describe what it was like for a novice runner like myself. With over 40,000 runners it is huge and coming from St Veep it felt super huge. Running the streets of London, past iconic landmarks you really feel the history under your feet whilst you are treading your own tiny path. It is quite something, deeply emotional.

The run itself. Well there is no denying that 26.2 miles is a long way. In fact, I ran over 28 miles! I knew from previous half marathons that you always run a bit extra because you don’t follow an exact line, but I hadn’t banked on an extra couple of miles. For those that don’t know (and I didn’t before the marathon) they have a blue line marked on the road which if you run along is exactly 26.2 miles. This is what the elite athletes try to do. With the huge quantities of ordinary runners, you just have to find your own space with lots of weaving in and out and running at the edges. The first 13 miles were fine but then you think gosh I have got to do that all again and that’s when the spectators really kick in and help with the tiredness. Someone asked when I “hit the wall.” The last mile was the toughest bit but there was absolutely no question of giving up.

I had two goals – to raise money for Spinal Research and to run all of the 26.2 miles. I have achieved both so am feeling very chuffed. Although I did the actual running, I could not have done this without the huge support that I have received from all of my family and friends. You have encouraged me when times were tough and told me that I could do this thing. You have listened to me rabbit on about running when it is the most boring thing in the world if you are not a runner. You have helped me raise, what will be, over £2,000 for Spinal Research. That is a lot of money and I never thought I could do that. You have been so generous and it will help make a difference to someone’s life.

The medal is mine and it is yours. Thank you."