10 MARCH 2017 womensrunninguk.co.uk
⁄ INSPIRATION⁄ INSPIRATION
"RUNNING HELPED
ME REDISCOVER
THE JOY IN LIFE"
When Louise Wilce was dealt a double blow by post-natal
depression and the death of her father, she never dreamed
running could help her turn things aroundWORDS: LOUISE WILCEhen I started running, I never
dreamed that a marathon could
ever be a possibility. My first ever
run was fairly typical: a cheap
pair of running shoes which had been tested
with a couple of laps of the living room, a
Couch to 5K app dutifully downloaded, far too
many layers of clothing on my lumpy, post-
Christmas body. I waited until it was dark and
headed out. It was January 2015 and it had
been snowing. I didn’t dare venture too far
from home but, after wheezing up and down
a few of the cul-de-sacs near my house, I
returned home triumphant, and freezing: I
was a runner!
I wasn’t put off by being slightly
overweight, or not wearing the right things,
or having not exercised since a short stint
on the netball team at school. Once I got my
breath back, I felt energised and excited with
a focus I’d not felt before. In fact, the only
negative thought pulsing through my head
that first night was, “I have got to get a sports
bra!” In the first two weeks I ran 12 miles.
I was hooked.
My reason to run came from tragic
circumstances. I’d spent the previous 18
months living under a black cloud, not
wanting to open my eyes in the morning.
Not long after having my son Alexander, in
January 2013, my dad Geoff was diagnosed
with a rare form of bile duct cancer.
Everything I had ever known was wiped out.
I spent my maternity leave travelling up and
down the M6 (my family live in Manchester,
I live in the Midlands) or hanging around
a hospital ward for days on end, all with a
tiny, colicky baby in tow. My dad underwent
surgery and recovered but, in August 2014,
a routine scan showed that his cancer had
returned and, in October of that year, he
passed away. He was 59. It’s no surprise
that I broke down and was eventually
diagnosed with Postnatal Depression and
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
It felt inescapable. My dad was a lovely
man and my very best friend. How on
earth could I go on without him? I trudged
through each day. I knew my tiny son and
husband needed me. I knew something
needed to change. I needed a focus,
something to break the cycle of work,caring for my son, crying, drinking...
I don’t know what changed one evening
but I thought, “Enough is enough.” I wanted
to feel better and start living again. I also felt
a huge desire to give something back to the
people who had been such a help to my dad
and my family. So I went online and entered
the Great Manchester Run, a 10K race in my
hometown of Manchester, a place we love
and reminds me of my dad on every corner,
every street.
My dad had chemotherapy and follow-up
treatment at The Christie, a world-famousW
Running has given
Louise and her family a
new lease of life