Running, but make it fun

How we all became better runners in 2021 – my end of year musings

A group of runners in a park at Tooting Park Run underneath a tree with the sun shining above them
A postcard showing a man and a woman laughing in the street during the London Marathon
A woman with brown curly hair and glasses smiling at the camera wearing a pink tshirt reading 'Run Happy'

I suspect that many of us entered 2021 exhausted from the year that was 2020. If, like me, you’re still coming to terms with the fact that despite having never really got 2020 off to a decent start we’re somehow now approaching 2022, you’ve probably landed on some of the same end of year revelations as I have. Ideally it wouldn’t have taken a pandemic to do so, but at the very least, for many of us these past two years have really taught us to notice the little things. 

From Instagram stories to FaceTime calls back home, we have all seen (and probably posted ourselves) something about the small and local moments we’ve come to know and love – the local coffee shop, runs and walks around your local park or common, the familiar face of your delivery person who you’ve seen more than ever before. The same thing translated across to the running community, whether it was people running marathons around their local streets, groups of runners posting their weekly 5k runs with the same hashtag, to #runch becoming a newly coined phrase for ‘lunch run’ – a particular favourite of the new work-from-home cohort (of which I am one). 

I think (hope) that for most of us everyday runners, this year has continued to give us a new found appreciation that we are able to get out and run. And if it wasn’t a continuation, I hope it was a start. When there was not a lot else we could do but get outside for walks, it meant we could also get out for runs. Our local streets and parks became havens of freedom in an uncertain lockdown situation. It became less about racing, less about PBs, less about ‘being better at running’ – and more about gratefulness, mindfulness and the value we got from lacing up. Hell, most of us became better runners in the process, but the uncertainty in the wider world thanks to Covid certainly changed how we looked at things. 

And as the months went on and the social restrictions lifted, things like the return of running events, races, and crowds became even more meaningful than they ever were before. Two of the races I took part in, both organised by London Marathon Events, built that very narrative into their events as they welcomed us real people back in real life. The official campaign for the 2021 marathon was named We Run Together, in honour of the 18 months which had passed since people hadn’t been able to do that. Similarly, the Vitality Big Half’s hashtag was We Run As One – another ode to the thousands of people who were finally able to run en masse again. 

Personally, the highlights from my year of running have been plentiful and I’ll caveat it right here that very few of them were about times, distances or paces. I am really proud I trained to cover long distance, but I’ll be upfront and say I don’t think I PB’ed in any distance in the run up to it all year. The highlights are pretty much all about memories, enjoyment and my own running journey, including what I see as an improvement in myself. Your feed might be full of other runners PB’ing in every distance, getting Good for Age places in marathons, coming First Lady/Man at Parkrun every week, but don’t forget that it’s all relative and what they do has little to no impact on you or your own journey. I love seeing people be amazing at running like that, but it doesn’t mean the rest of us are any less amazing for doing our own thing! 

So as we approach the end of 2021, I encourage you to continue appreciating the little things and the journey you’re on. I hope that, if I genuinely enjoy running, this will be a long old journey for me and my trainers and that not only am I going to improve over time, but I’ll make more memories and be part of the tremendous running community for more than just one calendar year. 

Below are some of my running highlights from 2021. Have you narrowed yours down yet? I would love to know what you’ve been up to this year and what you’ve gained most enjoyment from. 

Wishing you a restful and happy festive period and end to the year. Here’s to the next one! 

Ele x

Highlights from 2021 – WHAT A YEAR 

  1. Ok, admittedly this list is in no particular order but it would be completely and utterly remiss of me to not put the London Marathon first!
    EVERYTHING about this day was amazing and to be honest, in hindsight I’ve pretty much forgotten how much physical and mental pain i was in on the day – that has been 100% overshadowed by the good memories of everything about it.
    From the event expo at the ExCel to the photos and footage from the day itself, I will never forget the experience.
    For some real ramblings, take a read of my race recap post here.
  2. Related, but a worthy point in its own right – raising over £2,000 for the fantastic childhood cancer charity Neuroblastoma UK who I worked with on the marathon. I was touched not only by my friends and family’s generosity in donating to the charity as part of my fundraising, but also in the charity’s support throughout the whole process. I also helped raise £12,000 for them last year through my old company for which this follows on from.
  3. We Run Together campaign – being asked to be part of the official London Marathon campaign was SO cool!
  4. RunPod podcast – ditto the above – a wonderful experience being part of a running podcast I’ve listened to for a long time talking all about being a charity runner at London Marathon
  5. The ParkRun habit – a little late to the party, but there is something so smiley about how many people turn up to run around their park at 9am on a Saturday morning…
  6. St Albans Half Marathon – the one that taught me it doesn’t always go to plan on the day
  7. My blog and Instagram page – at risk of unintentionally sounding self-indulgent, I have really enjoyed having a place to write about my new running hobby, share my ramblings and track my runs, progress and photos to keep my own online training diary. Thanks for joining in.
  8. A London love that shows little sign of slowing – I have always loved London, my favourite city in the world. However, whether it was the crowds on marathon day who showed true humanity in this pandemic or the enjoyable runs through the City seeing the sights as a I trained, I continue to love where I am lucky to live through running.
  9. My run buddies – a shout out to my friends who now ask me running questions, my boyfriend who keeps me running faster, my mum who has been working her way through Couch to 5K and my brother who is a fantastic runner and tackled (aka smashed) his first marathon this year in Brighton with a 3:36. You have to have people you can talk to about this running malarkey!
  10. Bouncing back from hernia surgery – in Feb I took a month off running completely to undergo routine hernia repair surgery. I was itching to get the trainers out but it showed me that recovering well and keeping the desire to run live was vital – I have a post about it here. 
Two people, a man and a woman, standing in front of a Tooting Common Parkrun sign
A black running t-shirt from the Vitality Big Half reading 'We Run as One' next to a pink and black metal medal
A selfie of a woman running by water holding a golden cocker spaniel dog on a blue lead
A wooden blackboard which reads 'Never compare your beginning to someone else's middle of end' on a wet pavement in Battersea Park
A selfie of two people, a man and a woman, wearing sunglasses on a sunny day in a field
A woman standing on a pavement in Tooting, London holding a Starbucks coffee cup and carrier bag smiling at the camera
Two women smiling at the camera wearing black and pink running clothes with trees behind them
A family of seven people standing together to smile at the camera, with one wearing a red foil blanket after running a marathon
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