Welcome to my blog! I hope you will enjoy reading my race reports, musings about run training and other fitness-related activities.
My name is Petra, I am 100% Dutch and live in Yorkshire. I have lived in England all my adult life. I came to running late, aged 45, having never been sporty at all, though I had been a keen hillwalker. I was the laughing stock at PE during my school years. Unable to do gymnastics, or catch or throw a ball, it was all a bit miserable. Running didn’t feature at school. So at least no early cross-country trauma for me! I started my running journey by tentatively going out in the dark, along the streets in my village, and just building the distance I could run without stopping from a few hundred yards up to a few miles over one winter. Couch to 5k before the term had been invented I guess. I was so delighted when spring came and I could run far enough to venture out into the fields, it was as if a whole world of possibilities opened up, like running to the next village or town! 18 months later someone at work asked if I wanted to run the Leeds Half Marathon for charity and I entered, thinking I wouldn’t enjoy racing at all. To my huge surprise I absolutely loved it, with the roads closed ‘just for me’ and all those spectators cheering, it gave me real buzz. Since then I have always been keen on racing despite being a mid-pack runner at best, and back of the pack in many races. I joined a running club, Ilkley Harriers, after a few years too, which has been one of the best things I have done, and the club continues to add enormous value to my life in terms of friendship as well as training benefits.
It is now 2025 and 18 years have passed since those early running steps. I have been lucky enough to have retired on my 60th birthday in 2022, when I started this blog too. More time for running, not to mention stretching and strength-training, those components become increasingly important as my legs get older! Since 2021 I have been taking part in off-road ultras and found that I really enjoy going for the longer distances. Though I still also run shorter road and cross-country races, as well as parkrun. I mainly run in Yorkshire, but when I get the chance I love travelling to the Alps to walk and run there. Still not particularly speedy, but that does not detract from the huge enjoyment I get out of my running. And age-categories and age-grading are of course marvellous things! I also like writing about the races I run, so I hope that sharing my thoughts on this platform may provide some interest for you.