'My 10k run was cancelled...so I did it myself'

10th August 2020

When the Great Manchester Run was cancelled because of Covid-19, Julie Hume decided to run it anyway and more than doubled her fundraising target. Here she talks about juggling training with homeschooling and work, and explains why she ran in the first place.

Since the age of four my daughter Emily has had a stammer. It came out of the blue one day and it's just something that has been a part of her now for the past five years.

I decided I wanted to do as much as I could to learn about stammering and find ways to help and support Emily as she grows up and heads into her teenage years and beyond. I became a member of BSA/Stamma last year and when the opportunity to run the 10k Great Manchester Run came up I jumped at the chance to run it for the charity. 

I began training three days a week when the children were at school. Then Coronavirus happened. This changed everything.

This was back in February, pre Covid-19, and the run was supposed to have taken place in May. I began training three days a week when the children were at school. I work evenings in a supermarket so evening runs were out of the question. I was progressing well and really looking forward to the run. I wanted to raise a minimum £150 and managed this fairly quickly; I was so happy with the support I had. 

Then Coronavirus happened. This changed everything. All of a sudden schools closed and I had three children at home, so I was homeschooling during the day and working at night whilst trying to get as much running in as I could, but it was difficult. Then the run got cancelled. By this point I'd raised over my target so I decided to just set my own date in August, which coincided with time off work, and run it myself. With schools off for the summer, training was even more difficult to get in but I did what I could.

The day of the run

On Saturday 8th August I headed out for the run wearing my Stamma running vest for motivation and a great playlist to keep me going. It was a beautiful sunny day so I decided to just make my own 10k route in a local park, surrounded by trees; the shade kept me cool and meant it wasn't too hot. Using my FitBit I kept track of how far I had gone and enjoyed the scenery, feeling motivated by other runners in the park. 

I can't pretend it was easy; it wasn't. The lack of full-on training was definitely showing and my legs were like two dead weights at times so I did a mixture of walking, jogging and running. The last 2k was a killer. Everything got that little bit harder. Then one of the most motivating songs came on...The Eye of the Tiger! It gave me a little chuckle and a great boost for that final push. 

Hopefully next year the Great Manchester Run will take place. For now I'll continue to educate people on stammering, ensuring my daughter never feels like it's something to be embarrassed or ashamed about. 

I hit 10k right by my house and felt elated. It wasn't the same feeling as hitting that finishing line at the end of a proper race but I had done it and felt amazingly proud of myself. It's the furthest I've ever run and at the current total of £350, the most money I've ever raised for charity; I more than doubled my target. 

Hopefully next year the Great Manchester Run will take place and I can do it along with fellow runners, raising money for a charity that means a lot to me. For now I'll continue to educate people on stammering, ensuring my daughter never feels like it's something to be embarrassed or ashamed about and giving her that fair chance in life that she so deserves. I also want to say thank you to The British Stammering Association/Stamma for giving me this chance to raise money for them and also to everyone that has donated. It means a great deal to me!

Everyone here would like to say thank you to Julie for running for Stamma and for your commitment despite the covid-19 situation. You can still donate to Julie's Justgiving page here https://www.justgiving.com/Julie-Hume1