I’m Claire Ridgway and in my day job I’m a historian and author, but I also have a passion for running. 

I first did Couch to 5K in 2013, when I was 42 and then settled into a routine of running 5k three times a week. However, it wasn’t long before I eased the running out and started doing Les Mills BodyPump, Grit and BodyAttack instead. Then, in 2021, I found Caroline Girvan’s YouTube Channel and began her strength training and HIIT workouts. Running really took a backseat. But in the summer of 2022, when I was 51, I decided to mix things up a bit and combine strength training and running, so I did Couch to 5K again, watched running videos, read running blogs, and decided to do Jeff Galloway’s Run-Walk-Run method to train for a half-marathon.

I did my first half-marathon in January 2023, followed by a second in March 2023. In just a few months, I’ve become a runner and I’m now 52. It’s never too late to start running.