A GRANDMOTHER of 10 is set to run a half marathon this weekend.
Catherine Wilson, 71, will be racing towards the finish line at the Great Scottish Run in Glasgow to raise money for Alzheimer Scotland.
This is far from Wilson’s first race: she has already taken part in the Great Scottish Run twice and has also run a marathon, 10k races, and much more.
She started running when she was 65 when she was inspired to raise money for the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley.
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She said: "I hadn’t run anywhere since I was about 12. But when I was 65 my daughter Karen’s baby was born prematurely.
“I wanted to do something for the hospital and it was my daughter who said we should sign up to do a race, so it all started from there.”
Wilson caught the running bug and signed up to take part in 5km runs every Saturday before joining Kilbarchan Amateur Athletic Club and taking part in their training sessions, which she still does each week.
She added: “I’m doing three or four races a year, always for a different charity. I know with my age I’ll have to stop at one point, but I want to keep going as long as I can.
“I’ve met so many lovely people through running, whether through the Park Runs on a Saturday morning or Kilbarchan AAC. For my first race, one of the ladies who was much faster ran with me the whole way to keep me motivated.
“Running is full of people like that. It happens in the Great Scottish Run too, and the crowd is always very noisy and supportive.”
Wilson said the key to taking up running, regardless of your age, is to make sure you do things at your own pace.
“You can do a couch to 5k programme, find a running club or just go out on your own. Run a bit, walk a bit, run a bit, walk a bit – that’s how I got started and now I’ve got marathons under my belt”, she said.
One of Wilson’s top tips is not to eat too much before a race. She said: “I found crunchy electrolyte cubes in a sports shop and they are great for keeping me going on a long run.
“The best training tip I can give is just to keep at it and go slowly whenever you need to.”
Catherine’s family will be cheering her on this weekend although she isn’t expecting them to join her anytime soon.
“I’ve not managed to get any of them to run with me since I lapped my daughter.”
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