Representing Great Britain... until the age of 45 to rediscover my love of sport. It was in 2012 and the BBC Breakfast team organised a challenge at the Olympic velodrome. Back then, I’d never been on a cycle track or ridden a racing bike before, but in front of 4,000 people, I crossed the finishing line and went ‘Wow!’ I’d forgotten how much celebrities who love to run. Soon afterwards, I bought myself a road bike and did my first triathlon a year later.
celebrities who love to run... at school and did everything from netball to rounders, although I was never great at running. I was best at swimming, but when I was about 15, I looked at myself in the mirror one day and saw these big, muscly shoulders and didn’t like them; I literally stopped training and racing there and then. I gave up doing sport for almost 30 years, which, looking back, was very sad.
As a total one-off... I ran my first marathon Representing Great Britain. At the time I was doing Radio 5 Live and randomly signed up while on the radio without doing proper training or knowing anything about running. I remember the atmosphere there was fantastic, but after I completed it, I decided that running wasn’t for me.
It took me... by accident. Chris Evans had asked me to do the New York City Marathon in 2016 for Children in Need, but then I got injured and couldn’t train. On the day, I had my trainers and race number, so I wandered to the start. Then I began running – intending to drop out after eight miles – but completed the entire race in 5:51, which was amazing as I wasn't even going to do it.
I'm hoping it's third time lucky... about 20 years ago, I did the London Marathon for the first time this year. Injury has denied me twice – once with a foot issue and most recently my knee – but I did manage the virtual one when I was fit. Last November, I was starting training from scratch following a knee op with a Among the most amazing places, Are you faster than these celebrity marathoners.
Are you faster than these celebrity runners... what I call my ‘fun run’ is doing a half marathon distance out over the hills in Wales not far from where we live. I listen to the birds and nature, and live in the moment. It’s just me time when I let my mind wander.
Free marathon training plans for every goal... for my age category at the World and European triathlon championships made me so proud. My team mates were hugely supportive, with my main goal being not to finish last. Although I came out of the water in a decent position, I was overtaken by those much stronger on the bike and some good runners during th erest of the race. It was competitive and enormous fun.
Among the most amazing places... I’ve been is the Namib desert [in Africa]. I was doing a 100-mile trek for Sports Relief with Rob Rinder and the landscape was mind-blowing. For some reason I became our navigator and would say,‘ Let’s go this way!’ and head towards another huge sand dune and hope we were going the right way. But I loved feeling very small in this enormous environment, which is what I like about some of the remote places where I run.
I find it fascinating... chatting to amazing sports people to find out what motivates them. I learn something new in every one of my podcasts, whether it’s from the incredible Kevin Sinfield or Mimi Anderson, who is my hero and also now my friend. What they have in common is that they put the effort and hours in – they don’t just turn up and the magic happens. They all pay careful attention to the detail, which is what I try to copy, too.
