“I run because it makes my life better. In so many ways, my life has changed for the better since I’ve started running. Of course there are the health benefits that being physical fit brings but it is so much more than that. Before I started running I was shy, insecure and didn’t have the confidence to push myself towards goals or ambitions, I was scared of failing. Lack of self belief is probably a good way to describe it.
My mum could see I was in a slump and urged me to come along to her exercise group for a bit of fitness and to get me out of the house. Starting with short slow jogs, this is where my running journey began. I remember my first proper event, a 10K run. I got ready in the morning, nervous like most people would be before a race but I wasn’t nervous about the running or the how long it would take me. I was nervous because I felt like I didn’t belong there. Like I wasn’t “fit”. I wasn’t a “runner”. But I pulled on a pair of spanx underwear – to pull everything in because I was going to have to wear running tights in front of all of those people! They would see all of my flaws so I had to try and cover them up.
Then after that 10K, not immediately but in the following months, things started to change. If I could run 10K, could I run a half marathon? I could. If I could run 21k, could I run a marathon? The more goals I set myself, the more I pushed myself into achieving things I once thought were impossible. I stopped caring about what others thought, I was doing this for me.
My confidence grew in all aspects of my life. I certainly stopped caring about how I looked in my tights. I still set myself goals, working towards something gives me purpose, but that is just one of the reasons I run. To have the ability to run, clear my head in the fresh air, breathe in nature around me, sometimes I don’t believe there is a better feeling in the world.”
Rochelle @rochelliebelly
(Taranaki)
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Portraits of runners + their stories
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