Other than netball, I wasn’t really into sport at school. In fact I found every excuse to avoid it. Was it that having a sports teacher mum meant I felt the need to rebel against all sports? Maybe being chosen for goal defence in the netball team because I was the tallest in the class gave me the wrong message. Or maybe I just preferred to hit whatever ball it was over the fence to the boys school so I had to go and retrieve it. Who knows?  I have no idea when this changed but I just remember a passion for step classes, then aerobics, then Zumba with my daughter Emma.

I discovered running when I started work at Teenage Cancer Trust and decided to run 10k to raise funds for and awareness of the charity. This involved dragging my husband along for training runs followed by the excitement of the 10k race, the medal and the fundraising success. I was hooked!

Not long after this I discovered Highbury Fields parkrun, an event which apparently took place almost on my doorstep every Saturday at 9.00am, a time when I was usually still fast asleep in bed. I went along to see how it worked, firstly as a volunteer as I was way too unsure of my own running ability to actually join in the run. After a few weeks of volunteering I noticed that there were other women of my age running, that it didn’t matter how fast I ran and that I had potentially found a new obsession! A few weeks later I persuaded my husband to volunteer and shortly afterwards my son Ben started parkrunning too. Over the course of time friendships developed, weekly 5k parkruns were supplemented by 10k races, 10 milers and half marathons, plus a whole lot of volunteering, culminating in taking on the role of Co-Event Director of Highbury Fields parkrun alongside my long-suffering husband.

Fast forward a few years and an ankle twinge turned into a constant ache and eventually a diagnosis of a severely inflamed tendon. Medical professionals agreed that a short period of non-running was essential to enable recovery. The short period turned out to be 15 months which now that I think about it was a huge amount of time not doing something I enjoyed so much mentally, physically and socially. My injury coincided with my parkrunner friend Jen developing plantar fasciitis and similarly being advised to take some time out from running. So instead of wallowing in our own self-pity (ok we did a bit of that from time to time), we started swimming 3 times a week at London Fields Lido. I even sensibly took a course of swimming lessons so that my technique would allow me to swim without injuring myself. Cycling was soon added into the mix, with Jen and I finding new routes around London that we had never covered as runners. Suddenly it seemed that the running injuries were opening up new doors rather than closing them.

Lockdown 1 brought new challenges, with my husband shielding, us not being able to actually see our children or grand-daughter and contact with my 86 year old mum reduced to a daily 10 minute BBC Sounds 10 Today workout online. After 15 months of absolutely no running, a video chat with my physio at the end of May 2020 started my return, with 4 minutes of the slowest possible running around the tiny garden at the back of the house, a new running style (no more heel striking) and a promise to only run every 3rd day and only increase by 2 minutes every time. This meant it took me until early July to return to the magical 5k distance, something I achieved with another parkrunner friend Jo who was as emotional as I was at the finish! The 5k run was part of the virtual triathlon I had entered as a way of dealing with the combined challenges of injury and lockdown; signing up for something I have never done before but often thought about, in the non-challenging environment of the new virtual world. By this time I had also become a regular open water swimmer at The West Reservoir, along with 3 other parkrunner friends, an activity that has pushed the boundaries of my confidence to the extreme but which now, in Lockdown 3, I am missing possibly more than I missed running.    

So what have I learnt looking back on my journey from sports avoidance to what I would now say is a passion? First and foremost that setbacks are only challenges, to be faced, to be evaluated and to be dealt with head on. I have learnt to believe in myself instead of the default I’m not good enough. I have learnt to believe in others, both the medical professionals and the friends who are there to support me. I have learnt self-control, knowing that an early return from injury would have been a set-back rather than a win. And I have definitely learnt to find enjoyment in the success of others; a focus on volunteering over an extended period of time rather than running has meant being able to support and encourage parkrunners, marathon runners and triathletes in their own personal challenges.

Deborah Roback.

Hear more from Deborah and Highbury Fields parkrun:
Twitter: @ldndebs/ @highburyparkrun
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