{"id":7460,"date":"2021-11-29T15:33:46","date_gmt":"2021-11-29T15:33:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/?p=7460"},"modified":"2024-04-11T08:00:40","modified_gmt":"2024-04-11T08:00:40","slug":"lockdown-runner-takes-on-first-half-marathon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/2021\/11\/29\/lockdown-runner-takes-on-first-half-marathon\/","title":{"rendered":"Lockdown runner takes on first half marathon"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
\r\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Mark\u00a0Woolner\u00a0(BScEcon\u00a01995)\u00a0took up running during the first\u00a0UK lockdown and is returning to Cardiff\u00a0nearly 30 years\u00a0after graduating, to take on Cardiff Half Marathon in 2022. He shares his motivation, inspiration\u00a0and what he\u2019s looking forward to on race day.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

You only started running last year. What got your started and how is\u00a0training going?\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

At 47, I looked in the mirror at\u00a0the\u00a0start of the first lockdown and saw a middle-aged man with a middle-aged spread looking out at me. I\u00a0decided I didn\u2019t want,\u00a0or\u00a0have to\u00a0be,\u00a0that person.\u00a0So\u00a0I\u00a0started exercising, with little real expectation that I would stick at it, but the results were quickly\u00a0visible\u00a0and it inspired me to keep going.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

To start with, running was a bit of an afterthought to my abs exercises, just to do a bit of cardio. For\u00a0the first few months I only ran 2-3km at a time, but it started to feel easier,\u00a0and\u00a0a\u00a0runner friend encouraged me to push myself \u2013 on consecutive weekends I progressed to 5k, 10k, 15k and then 20k \u2013 the sense of achievement was\u00a0amazing\u00a0and I haven\u2019t looked back!\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

What inspired you to run the\u00a0Cardiff Half\u00a0Marathon?\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I\u2019ve always been reluctant to run an organised event,\u00a0but a mate of mine whose daughter is currently studying at Cardiff said he had entered the run and persuaded me to join him!\u00a0The fact that the run is in Cardiff, one of my favourite cities in the world,\u00a0and the place I\u00a0grew up\u00a0in as\u00a0a\u00a0uni\u00a0student in the 1990s, changed my mind.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Why\u00a0did you choose to\u00a0run for<\/strong>\u00a0Cardiff University\u2019s cancer\u00a0research?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

My\u00a0mum has secondary bowel cancer and I\u2019ve\u00a0seen first-hand on two occasions in the past\u00a0five\u00a0years just what a devastating effect this terrible disease, and its treatment, can have on a person and those around them.\u00a0I have confidence that the work\u00a0Cardiff University is doing will have a positive impact on finally being able to conquer cancer.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Any training advice you can share\u00a0– especially as race day gets closer?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

It sounds naff, but believe in yourself, trust your body and push yourself just enough to go that extra mile (literally!)\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

How have you found fundraising?\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I set myself a target of \u00a3500 and had an initial spurt on Facebook, but I\u00a0haven\u2019t pushed fundraising\u00a0too much\u00a0yet. I\u2019ll\u00a0start promoting more in the\u00a0new\u00a0year as\u00a0race day\u00a0gets closer.\u00a0I know I can rely on family and close friends, but a well-timed social media entry has the potential to elicit responses from a few blasts from the past!\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

What motivates you during long runs?\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Personal achievement, genuinely enjoying being outdoors,\u00a0switching off from normal life\u00a0and knowing I\u2019m doing something worthwhile for both my physical and mental health. I used to hate hearing all about positive endorphins and all that from seasoned runners, but you know what, they were\u00a0absolutely right!\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

How have your friends and family found your marathon\u00a0training?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

They are all very supportive, if a little surprised at how I have stuck at it and grown to really enjoy it\u00a0\u2013 so much so\u00a0that it\u2019s\u00a0now a significant part of my life. They recognise the positive impact that running has had on me. Even though occasionally, I am sure some\u00a0of them\u00a0roll their eyes at my self-congratulatory posts on social media when I\u2019ve\u00a0reached a milestone or achieved a PB!\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

What are you most looking forward to about\u00a0race\u00a0day?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Being part of an organised event for the first time, enjoying the atmosphere\u00a0and the\u00a0support of the crowds and seeing how hard I can push myself.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I also\u00a0really cannot wait to be back in Cardiff!\u00a0I\u00a0have such fond memories of my time there and don\u2019t get to visit that often. It\u2019ll be amazing to run around some of my old haunts, as well as some new ones \u2013 I can\u2019t believe I haven\u2019t crossed the barrage yet!\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

What advice do you have for\u00a0anyone thinking of signing up to a fundraising challenge?\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Just do it \u2013 it\u2019s good for you personally and for the Uni – you\u2019ll be running for an amazing cause and supporting continuing academic endeavour.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

You can support Mark\u2019s fundraising towards Cardiff University\u2019s cancer research by donating to his\u00a0<\/em>JustGiving page<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

Run the Cardiff Half Marathon for #TeamCardiff<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Register your interest<\/a>\u00a0with us and we will be in touch with further information on how to complete the registration process and claim your free #TeamCardiff running place.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mark Woolner (BScEcon 1995) took up running during the first UK lockdown and is returning to Cardiff nearly 30 years after graduating, to take on Cardiff Half Marathon in 2022. He shares his motivation, inspiration and what he\u2019s looking forward to on race day. ","protected":false},"author":904,"featured_media":7461,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[211,199,142,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-teamcardiff","category-alumni-stories","category-donate","category-news"],"meta_box":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/904"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7460"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7656,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7460\/revisions\/7656"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}