I’m A Runner

Place in the Sun presenter Laura Hamilton

At school I was much more of a sprinter than a long-distance runner.

I loved doing the 100m and 200m. Back then, even 400m seemed like a very long way to run.

An old boyfriend’s mum inspired me to run again, when I was in my late teens.

She did amazing things such as run the New York City Marathon loads of times.

Working on A Place in the Sun means I find fantastic places to run between filming.

I really love Mojacar, on the coast in southern Spain. I always take my trainers and running kit and try to fit in a run to explore.

I did my first organised race in 2012 – the British 10K in London.

I was nervous beforehand about running what was a long way for me. But I trained properly and felt a real sense of achievement on crossing the line.

Once I became a mum [Laura’s son, Rocco, was born in 2013], a vital bit of gear was having a treadmill at home.

When time is short and my husband, Alex, isn’t home, I can still clock up the miles.

Because so many people who like to run and keep fit are busy, I launched an app* last year.

My personal trainer, John Beeby, and I devised it so you can stick to a training plan no matter how tight time is. It worked for me – I lost five stone in seven months after having my daughter, Thalia, in 2015.

I have a dodgy left knee.

It flares up after I ski, so once I come back I have to put up with it for a few days before it eases. I’m conscious that I need to protect my knees if I want to carry on running for years to come.

Once I’ve committed to something, I really knuckle down to do a proper job.

It was like that when I did Dancingonice and had to train really hard and quickly pick up new skills. I’m sure that will help if I do more races in the future.

Whether I’m jogging around the streets of Purley in South London, where I live, or on a beach abroad, running for me is a great escape.

I try to switch off from work and use it as a good time to unwind and relax.

I have a bucket list of places to go and things to do, and running a marathon is definitely on it.

I’ve been too busy with work and having my two children to train for one so far. I did [celebrity winter-sports challenge programme] Thejump two years ago, which was crazy at times, so I hope running 26.2 miles is not quite as scary as that was.

Laura runs for The Children’s Trust (thechildrenstrust.org.uk). If you are interested in running for the charity, call 01737 365018.