Sallie Lloyd-Jones spent much of her life believing she couldn’t run. Now aged 70 she is aiming to complete a series of 5k and 10k races.
Sallie Lloyd-Jones celebrated her 70th birthday by running for seven miles non-stop. Now in her 71st year the retired nurse plans to complete a string of 5ks and 10ks including the Glasgow Women’s 10k, the Polaroid series and the Great Scottish Run 10k.
But perhaps you don’t think this is particularly impressive given that the number of running pensioners has risen over the last decade. However, in Sallie’s case her running feats are all the more remarkable when you find out that she only took up the sport at the age of 64 and in recent years has undergone a heart bypass operation.
She explains: “I was thoroughly un-sporty all my life, hated getting cold and wet and, more than anything, I couldn’t run to save myself. Or so I thought. “In fact I even resisted all the efforts of my very outdoorsy husband, author Robin Lloyd-Jones, who over the years did his best to introduce me to mountaineering, rock-climbing, skiing, canoeing and camping to no avail. This only further convinced me that I was designed to sit on a sofa in front of the telly and a warm fire.” Sallie, of Helensburgh, also says that for many years she felt unwell and despite medical investigations for symptoms such as frequent stomach aches nothing was ever found to be wrong with her. But Sallie’s ill-health continued and by the age of 60 she was too weak to even climb the stairs and could barely walk.
Then came the breakthrough. Sallie explains: “Doctors had spent years trying to find out what might be wrong with me. I’d had endless tests, X-rays, endoscopies, but still nothing was diagnosed.
“Then, the day after my 61st birthday a brilliant haematologist took one look at my blood results and said, ‘You’re deficient in absolutely everything. I think we’ll go for Coeliac disease.’ And that was it! I commenced at once on a strictly gluten-free diet, and within a year I could walk properly. But even better, no stomach ache. I felt marvellous, energetic and well.” Over the next two years Sallie, who has three children and three grandchildren, found herself newly invigorated and slowly but surely began building up the distances that she could walk. A year later and she was able to run.
She says: “It really did feel amazing to find that even in my sixties I was able to take up an activity like running.” By 2003 Sallie was keen to take on a new challenge and with her younger daughter, Leonie, she signed up to run a Flora Light 5k.
Sallie recalls: “I had no idea how far 5k was, only that it was a lot less than a marathon. I began training by alternating 10 walking steps with 10 running steps for a short distance and increasing it slowly.” The 5k was meant to be a one-off event but Leonie persuaded her mum to take part in the Glasgow Women’s 10k in Glasgow. “I can’t say that I ran the whole distance but I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The atmosphere was really wonderful,” says Sallie.
But then the following year, in 2005, Sallie was distraught to find her health deteriorating again. She explains: “During winter runs I felt the cold air catching in my chest causing me to stop frequently. And then this feeling continued into the warmer spring temperatures.” Further medical tests revealed that Sallie had actually suffered a heart attack. The “cold air” all winter had, in fact, been angina. That July Sallie underwent a coronary artery by-pass graft operation – but just four months later she was out running the streets again. With numerous 5k and 10ks now under her belt, and a 10k PB of 1hr 18mins, Sallie is again aiming to complete her “full set” of events in 2009.
Sallie, who aims to do a training run at least two or three times a week, says: “Last year was my best ever, and this year I celebrated my 70th birthday by running 7 miles non-stop. Now I plan to do the Women’s 10k, the four Polaroid 10ks, and the GSR 10k as well as several 5ks.
“I run partly because I want to make up for all the years that I couldn’t, partly to stay fit and partly because I love the feeling that comes with crossing the finishing line of an event. I just never imagined I would call myself a runner. Aren’t I amazingly lucky?”
By Fi Russell