Content note: this article contains references to suicidal thoughts that readers may find upsetting.

You might not believe me, but I’m sure that running only gets better as you get older. Sure, you might not be able to sprint as fast as you did at school, and it might take a little longer to limber up and recover, but the very best runners I know are all women in their 40s and 50s. It’s not just that many of them are faster than me; they seem to enjoy running more than other people. They’re less hung up on external opinions; these are women who spend their spare time adventuring on foot – pushing their own limits.

Quite often, I’ve found that these runners only took up the sport in their 30s – usually after having kids. When I snagged my sub-4-hour marathon PB aged 29, I befriended a mum-of-two who’d started running after having her second baby. She ran the same course a full 45 minutes faster than me and was at least 12 years older. Age really isn’t a barrier to running success, particularly when it comes to longer challenges.

Marathons aside, it’s those middle-aged runners at Parkrun and community events who seem to be having the best time. Women just get better at running with age – and to prove it, I’ve roped in three of the best to impart their pearls of wisdom. 

When did you get into running and why?

Back in 2009, I’d just had my fourth child and was experiencing very severe postnatal depression. I didn’t even know that I was severely depressed – I only found out at the routine postnatal 12-week appointment when my GP asked me various questions and found my answers concerning. Alongside medication and talking therapy, she suggested getting outside, away from normal life. “Maybe try jogging,” she said.

I’d never run before – it wasn’t something I’d ever associated myself with. I didn’t think I’d be able to experience joy from it. I don’t come from a sporty family, but I was so mentally ill, I thought if the doctor is telling me that it might help, I’m going to listen. 

And when did you start to think that running might be your ‘thing’? 

I don’t know that I’d call it my ‘thing’, but I knew that running would help me to not just survive depression, but also to start to thrive a bit more in my life – that was clear from that first outing. I tried to run for one minute, then walk, then run again. All I could think about was breathing and moving my body forward without falling into the canal. I was just praying for it to be over. But when I got home, I kind of knew running was for me. For a whole 14 minutes, I hadn’t thought about taking my own life. The only way I could achieve that freedom of mind was through running – and that’s still the case. I needed the space it gave me to deal with my mental illness.

Soon, running started benefiting everything in my life: my social life, my professional life, my mum life – everything.

What got you interested in entering races?

It probably took me a year to really start enjoying running, and that’s when I started entering races. Most people know me as a trail runner these days, but I didn’t come to trail running until I got sober in 2016. I was at home one Saturday night when I’d normally be out partying, and I started watching a documentary on National Geographic about the Marathon des Sables, a six-day 250km race across the Sahara desert. My sponsor had told me that I needed to get busy living, and I was going to be 40 in 2018… and something inside me said, ‘Oh, I wonder if I could do that?’

So, I ventured onto trails and spent 18 months running around the UK to prepare for the challenge. Getting into trails opened up a whole new world to me; suddenly, I felt able to venture into spaces that as a kid I never felt safe. As a young adult, the outdoors was somewhere where I was bullied physically and mentally. To be able to express myself via trail running has been an absolute blessing. 

What an incredible turnaround! Are you glad you came to running when you did?

I think that I came into running at exactly the right time. I believe that everything happens for a reason, and running came to me in my early 30s because it was the right time for it to come into my life. I have this childlike joy for running now that I think I might have lost had I been running since childhood. 

It’s almost like I’m entering my teens as a runner, even though I’m 45; I’m still intrigued, still excited, still finding out new things about myself. And I love the challenge of running. I love that I’m in charge – no one gets to tell me what to do. No one gets to kick me out.

What’s the best thing that running has given you?

The main thing I’ve gained from running – especially in the latter years – has been community. I co-founded Black Trail Runners, organise races and am involved with various other projects and groups, and I’ve found that running brings so many different people together from all kinds of backgrounds. The uniting force is that all of us find joy in movement, no matter how fast or slow that might be. I’ve seen such a transformation in myself and others by having running as a key part of their lives.

Being in the outdoors, seeing the views and new places – that’s also amazing. I just feel that I’m such a braver woman; I’m a more secure and confident woman because I know that my body can take me from one place to the other in a way that is safe and joyful. Running has given me a sense of freedom that I never had before.

We could all do with feeling a little more free. Finally, what advice do you have for the 30-year-old wondering if it’s too late to start running?

If I can do it, anyone can do it. My piece of advice would be to start where you are; try not to get into the mindset of comparing yourself to other people because that will only lead to despair. If you run, you are a runner – no matter how fast or slow, no matter what that looks like or what you look like. Just get out there, whether it’s for five minutes, 50 minutes or five hours. Move your body forward in a way that feels joyful for you. I guarantee you will never regret any time that you spend out there. 

It might be difficult to get going, but once you do it and get back home, the sense of joy and the endorphin rush you’re rewarded with is better than many things that I’ve tried. So just try it. 

When did you get into running and why?

When I was 29, I was asked the run the London Marathon with a friend who had a charity place. I was really into fundraising at the time, so knew how in demand places for that race are – I had to accept the offer. So, I agreed to do it, despite not even owning a pair of running trainers at the time. The following year, I set myself 30 different fitness challenges in the run up to my big birthday – most of which were running-related. I did my first 50k ultra in the December of that year.

At 31, I set myself the challenge of running four marathons in a year. The fourth was Athens – I wanted to see where the marathon started. I just fell in love with running from that moment; I’ve now done seven marathons, including Chicago last month, which was brilliant.  

What is it about marathons that you love so much?

I just love the fact that I have to really work hard to do that distance. I can’t just show up and hope for the best – I need to put in months of work. It’s about getting out there and doing those long runs, whether you’re in a heatwave or it’s pouring with rain at 6am. It’s about all those times you dug deep, way before getting to the start line. There’s nothing like knowing that you did all that you could do. 

For that first London Marathon, the training was so tough. I had to take myself from never having run before, to getting through 26 miles in one go. It was incredibly challenging, mentally, but I managed to complete it and quickly learned that the feeling you get at the finish line will always override how hard the training is.  

It sounds like you took to it straight away. Are you glad you took up running at the age you did?

Definitely. I love that as a single mum in her mid-30s, I can say that I run marathons. My daughter attended both my Chicago and Berlin marathons, and it’s incredible that I’m able to make memories with her and she gets to be able to say that she’s seen her mum doing that. So yeah, I’m really proud that I’m this age and I’m still running – I don’t plan on stopping.

When I first started, I went on the treadmill and thought: Oh, this is wonderful. And then I discovered running in the outdoors and realised the joys of road running. Being outside in nature has really helped with my mental health; running has enabled me to be a happier and healthier mum, too.

My next goal is a ‘fit before 40’ challenge; I want to be at my fittest by the time I reach the big 4-0, and it’s my chance to try out different distances and surfaces. I still haven’t really tried trail running yet.

What advice do you have for someone worrying that they’ve left it too late to get into running?

Running has no age. I think you just need to have a look at the running community to see that there isn’t a limit. Everyone at my running club (East End Road Runners) is a different age, and when you go to any races, you’ll see runners of all ages. Just give it a go.

It’s never too late to start running. You get to feel part of something so much greater – especially when you start marathon training. You realise that you’re in the 1% (of the population who has run a marathon) and that feels great. At 35, I feel like I’m now at a really good fitness level post-baby, and I’m ready to continue to improve my running and hopefully do more things – including Parkruns with my daughter.  

How long have you been running?

I’ve been running now for seven years and over that time, I’ve run 10 marathons and five ultras (up to 55km). 

My journey started when my kids were eight and 10. I used to take them to extracurricular classes quite a long way from home, and in between shuttling them around, I’d kill time in Tesco – buying things I didn’t need. But I’m also a passionate reader and around this time, I’d started reading a book while waiting in the car by a woman who’d gone through a rough mental health patch and had taken up running. She ended up entering the Chicago marathon the day before the race. On the back of the book, it had a little blurb about the Couch to 5K app – and I downloaded it. 

Because the kids’ tuition was in an awkward location, it wasn’t really feasible for me to join a gym – I’d only use it if I was near their school. But running? Well, that just fit right in. 

When I started, I didn’t know anything about running. I’d never heard of Strava, I didn’t know anyone who ran. But I kept going, and one day I was sent a leaflet about the Vitality North London half marathon in Wembley. I’d never even done Parkrun at the time – I had no idea what I was doing. To quell my anxiety, on the Friday night, my husband drove me round the route in the car so I could get an idea of where I’d be running. When I came over the finish line on the Sunday, my husband asked me to train him to run. 

You must be a huge source of inspiration to your family. Are you still running together?

Running’s really brought my family together. My husband’s now done 50 Parkruns and I’ve just finished my 200th. I love running so much that I’ve started training other women to go from couch to half marathon. 

My mosque is in Stanmore and it used to have all the sports clubs possible – apart from running. So I set up a running club for the mosque women. One of the members is 65 and has now run three half marathons! 

How has running helped you, personally? 

When both of my parents passed away, running gave me a real mental strength. Running’s also helped me to deal with more mundane things like public speaking (which I hate).

But it hasn’t just improved my life – running has really helped my kids. My son’s super-active, so we started taking him to Parkrun to help him burn energy. We made it non-negotiable and when he started, he used to moan about hating running. These days, he comes to my club run on a Tuesday and is now starting to muscle in on our Monday speed sessions. I can barely keep up at those meets – there’s no way I’m bringing him! 

And finally, why’s it so important for you to keep on running – and to be visible doing so?

I always think back to one incident that made me laugh. During the school holidays, it was harder to train, so I’d take the kids to a secluded area in the park where I could run loops (each one was about 800m) and check on them each time round. On one of the laps, this little boy sees me running and bursts out laughing. I start looking around me wondering what’s funny and then I see his family. The mums were all dressed in their black abayas, and I realised that he’d clearly never seen a Muslim run before. He found it hilarious to see a Muslim woman running!

On the flip side, I was the only person wearing a hijab out of around 300 people at the Perivale 5 (a 5-mile road race in west London). Loads of local people had come out to cheer, and I remember running past a bunch of allotments when another little boy started shouting: “Go Muslim! Go on Muslim!” His mum was so embarrassed; I could hear her asking him what he was doing. But he told her that he was trying to support the Muslim woman. 

Sometimes, it’s about breaking the stereotypes that hijabi women can’t run. Sometimes the racism we deal with doesn’t come from outside – it’s from within ourselves. At every Parkrun I’ve been to, people have been so supportive and clapping. The running community has been incredible. 

Images: Sabrina Pace-Humpreys; Jacqueline Fernandez; Sakina Sidik