From muddy struggle to stress-free fun
James Thambyrajah, 39, from Cheam, Surrey
‘I’m not sure what my old PE teachers would think if they could see me now, running a half marathon. They would probably be quite surprised, as I never showed much talent for long-distance running at school.
When I was at school, I was at the tail end of the attitude that doing cross-country wasn’t something that you were supposed to enjoy. It was a tick-box exercise and simply an activity you had to do. Like many people, my memories are of running in cold, rainy weather through soggy fields, just wishing it would be over.
It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy sport because I really liked playing football and cricket. But because running is solitary, I wasn’t so keen as I liked being in a team and the camaraderie that came along with that.
Then, after getting my first hospital job, I gave running another go. I’d been regularly going to the gym, but was getting bored. I found that after a 12-hour hospital shift, a run was the best way to de-stress. I appreciated how running was good for my mental and physical health. And unlike when I was at school, I started to enjoy running.
I soon started signing up for 5K and 10K races, and really got the bug. Although I’ve never been fast, I had my own goals, such as dipping under the one-hour mark for 10K, and other targets which have kept me motivated.
I’m now a GP, married with three young children. I’m keen to stay fit and healthy for them, especially with diabetes, hypertension and heart disease very common in my family. I wanted to find something that would help my health but that I would also enjoy, and to my surprise I discovered running ticked both boxes. Being a runner, even a modest one, is now an important part of who I am. Some of my patients know I run and if they ask me about it, I’ll always encourage them to give it a go. I’ve also found the social media running community hugely welcoming and, if someone sees what I do and puts their trainers on as a result, that’s fantastic.
I’ve now been running for about 14 years. Like many people, during the pandemic I really came to appreciate what a privilege it was to be able to get out running and to do something familiar in strange times. Running keeps me calm and I never regret going for a run; I can go pretty much wherever and whenever I want, at the pace I feel like doing. It just works for me.
This year, I upped my game and did my first half marathon – The Royal Parks Half – which I loved, but found tough. I’m sure I’ll do more, though, and continue doing 10K races. I like to think that I’ve got at least another 20 years of running in me; I want to enjoy it as much as I can.
If you told 13-year-old me, who was struggling to get round a school cross-country course, that by my late thirties I would be running as much as I do and appearing in Runner’s
World, I would’ve laughed. It’s funny to look back and see what a big role running plays in my life now.’
‘Being a runner is now an important part of who I am’