“It was one of them moments of sheer madness” – Quays Running Club member takes part in London Marathon

Last weekend Claire Farmer, member of Quays Running Club took part in the London Marathon after training for it three times.

Due to the pandemic, the race has been continually pushed back, meaning Claire has been training for it since April 2020. Despite not being a natural runner, she completed the marathon in 6 hours and 20 minutes.

Claire said: “It was one of them moments of sheer madness. It’s something I wanted to do and when I get my teeth in to something I want to do, I do it no matter what happens or how long it takes me, I’ll get it done.

“I wanted it to be a one-time thing and do it to say I’d done it, but it didn’t quite work out like that. So, we trained for the April one, but then lockdown came, then they redid it in the October, and I took part virtually as well as doing the real one last week.”

Claire has run on and off throughout her life and got more into it since meeting her husband Stuart in 2015.

Together, along with a friend they formed the Quays Running Club, a mixed ability running club based in Salford. It has been going for just over three years and offers a friendly environment for group running sessions.

Claire said: “We are quite an aging running club; we’ve got a couple of young ones but the majority of us are 40+. I think its massively important especially for people of my age group and getting people out, it’s the community side of it.

“We go out for meals, and we go out after runs for coffees and things like that, the social side of it. That’s probably the only reason I carried on with it because like I said, I’m not a natural runner but the social side of it is nice, it keeps you active and connected.”

Claire was the only member of the club to take part in the marathon and said although it was an amazing experience, it is not something she plans to take part in in the future.

Even though it was hard, the marathon was made easier by the encouragement and cheering from the crowd, people playing music through their speakers, and even spotting some Morris Dancers on the way round.

Claire said: “I’m glad I’ve done it, I’ve ticked the box, I’ve got the t-shirt, I’ve got the medal, and I won’t be doing it again!”