Running all over the UK

Running was the last thing on Dorota’s mind when she arrived in England in 2008. But, as she tells Kathryn Karakaya, it didn’t take long to become addicted…

‘Run a half marathon? Me?!’
‘13 miles did you say? Without stopping?!’
‘Why? I wouldn’t even run for a bus…’

That’s what I imagine I’d be saying. The motivations for running a half marathon must be many and varied. But if I’m honest, I could never be bothered to think what they might be.

Until I met Dorota. The idea of running horrified her too at first. But her story shows that initial resistance doesn’t mean you won’t enjoy it once you start. And the glint in her eye whenever she talks about her running tells you how she feels about it now.

At the Cardiff Half Marathon in October she easily beat her personal best, finishing in exactly 2 hours, half an hour faster than her previous attempt. She credits this with having to start with runners slightly faster than her. It was a perfect day, a perfect finish and a new medal to cherish. Plus a new time to add to the chart on the kitchen wall.

‘I keep a chart of all my runs,’ says Dorota. ‘I write down how far I’ve run and my time so I can see how I’m improving’.

Her achievement is even more remarkable considering she didn’t start running until she arrived in England a year and a half ago. She had never had the desire to run in Poland but, missing her local gym and aerobics classes, she started to pound the pavements of Earlsdon just to keep fit. And she found it didn’t take long to become addicted.

So the chart went up, a new watch monitor went on and Dorota was running with a target in mind.
‘I read somewhere that you need two years’ training before you do a half marathon,’ she says. ‘But when I started running regularly, I felt it was possible to do it much sooner.’

So after just six months’ training, Dorota completed last year’s Kenilworth Half Marathon in 2 hours 28 minutes. It was time to move on to bigger and better venues and see a bit more of the UK too. She loved Cardiff’s city to docklands route and the thrill of running with 9,000 other people. Now she is looking forward to Edinburgh in the spring.

Like all serious runners, she has her superstitions. She wore her Kenilworth race shirt in Cardiff and is planning to wear her Cardiff shirt in Edinburgh next year. That way there is an incentive to step up each time – to a faster time and the next rung on the ladder of running achievement.

The ramifications of her success are starting to spread far and wide, even to family and friends back in Poland.
‘Nobody ran before, but since I started my friend has started running 6kms regularly and my brother and his girlfriend have also started’.
And, even better, her boss in Coventry is so impressed he’s pledged to sponsor her in Edinburgh.

It seems that so long as there is another running goal ahead, Dorota will be happy.
‘When I set a target I want to achieve it,’ she explains. ‘It was my target to complete a half marathon in 2 hours. Now I want to achieve 1 hour 50 minutes in Edinburgh!’

And with her chart to motivate her, two medals for inspiration and an indomitable spirit, it’s a target that doesn’t seem very far away.