Annmarie Rushton is a bar staff member at The Railway Institute, Shildon. When she’s not working, she’s running. As Annemarie nears her goal of running for a thousand days in a row, she detailed her inspiration and the love she’s developed for the sport.
“I started my running journey one cold Monday night in February 2017, around Shildon bypass,” she told the Crier. “My inspiration was my friend and boss, Hazel Johnston. She would always come in with a smile after running and told me how much she loved it, so I thought ‘why not try it?'”
Mental health
“So I gave it a go and at the beginning, it wasn’t pleasant or fun, but I carried on and came to love it. It helps with my mental health and after losing my dad to suicide in December 2018, I felt running helped me focus and it got me out of the house.”
Running events
Talking about her racing she said, “I have done a few races. My first 10k was Darlington in August 2017. I’ve also completed Red January, where you run every day of the month. I also took part in Hackworth parkrun in Shildon. While I don’t tend to run the event any more, I still try to volunteer.”
1,000 day goal
In October 2019, Annmarie started a running streak intending to run every day for a month.
“It eventually followed on to two months,” she said, “and then suddenly I was a year in running every day. I thought day 500 would be all I could do, but still I carried on. Before I knew it, two years had gone by and now I am approaching my 1,000th day of running on 26 June.
“Back in March I saw Quinn’s Retreat asking for people to run the Great North Run in September in aid of the charity. I messaged them and to my surprise they chose me to run for them. Training is currently under way. I tend to run between three to seven miles a day but will be going up to ten as part of my training.”
Asked what she intended to do once she reached day 1,000, Annmarie said she will just carry on and see how long it lasts. Here’s to the next 1,000 days, Annmarie!
To donate to Annmarie’s fundraiser for Quinn’s Retreat, visit her JustGiving page.
Shildon & District's local community newspaper.
