Ben and Lolly both enjoy running but, with a young daughter, have to take it in turns to do so.  Which sometimes leads to jealousy.  Unless one of us is injured of course, in which case jealousy is a given.

Ben has been running on and off for over ten years, but despite him having been running for longer, it was Lolly that initiated the first race; the 2012 Bristol 10k. We ran together, although Ben has to admit that towards the end, he might have been itching to finish, and was probably not the best running partner! Later that year, we did the Cardiff 10k, that time running separately. Lolly’s running was put on hold through 2013, when she was pregnant with our first child, and though Ben still ran, it was without much consistency.

That all changed once there was a baby to avoid! Suddenly, Ben found that bit more time for running. He achieved his first running target of a sub-50 minute 10k at the Stoke Stampede in December 2013, and his first half marathon followed shortly at the 2014 Silverstone Half.

Lolly’s running can be split into 3 definitive eras – before children, mum of one, mum of two. Part 1 was never as committed as it should have been, but was enough to feel wistful about running for all of pregnancy. Giving birth coincided with the start of Longrun Meadow parkrun, and so Part 2 began with the target of being able to run her first parkrun, which happened in February 2014.

While 2014 was a returning year, the highlight being the British 10k, 2015 was the defining year.  February saw her first sub-30 parkrun, and May her first sub-60 10k (at Glastonbury). By the end of the year those PBs were 25:54 and 55:22 respectively. She also ran the Two Tunnels half marathon in the September, a distance she has yet to repeat. 2016 saw a drop off in running, first with bouts of illness but later in the year due to pregnancy. The main highlight of the year was undoubtedly parkrun, both in joining the 50 club and truly getting the tourism bug.

And so onto Part 3, with the slow build up back to strength. Multiple setbacks, with the low energy levels often associated with having two small children. Lolly’s first parkrun back was at Moors Valley in July 2017, with her first race waiting until the Isle of Man Easter Festival in 2018. With her strength returning, Lolly set a new parkrun PB in January 2019, and is looking forward to what might happen next. So long as she gets some sleep one day!

Lolly has been known as Lolly online for as long as she can remember, and it’s now very much an ingrained habit (she’s well aware it’s very easy to find her name online, it’s not a state secret). She is a qualified Leader in Running Fitness, and is currently working towards her Coach in Running Fitness.