Natalie Hilton

Week 4 - A slow but steady finish to reach 100k!

The final week of my 100k challenge was a short week of 5 days with just over 18k left to run. With my leg still feeling sore, this week’s strategy was slow and steady wins the race. However, when I headed out for my run on Monday, the rare sight of blue skies and sunshine in Aberdeen spurred me on to complete an 8k! This was a good start to get me closer to the target total.

I also spent most of this run thinking about a lovely elderly lady called Elizabeth who I met at a care home in Belfast back in June. The home cares for people with dementia, and I was there with my friend who was visiting her mum. I somehow ended up sitting with Elizabeth who made a big impression on me. She kept me entertained whilst my friend spoke with her mum, making me smile with her many interesting stories of her life. The Irish always know how to tell a good story! She also touched my heart when she said I’d cheered her up, as she’d had no visitors that day, and she had enjoyed talking with me. I suspect that her family had in fact visited her earlier in the day, but it was still lovely to see her smile when she looked up at me and told me this. Elizabeth sadly passed away over the weekend, and she was one of the people I had thought about when I took on this run challenge. This was a poignant reminder of the importance of the Dementia UK charity and the work they do to support people with dementia and their families, as well as investing in research and raising awareness.

I was also feeling touched by the support of friends and family who have sponsored me and helped me to more than double my target fundraising total. Plenty to think about and get me going for the rest of this week.

After a rest day on Tuesday, the weather gods were being kind again, and I enjoyed a good 6.5k run in lovely sunshine—albeit just 3 degrees! However, my day was not done! Jamie, who has been matching me in distance along the way in support of what I’ve been doing, told me he had just done a longer run that day! Keen to complete the final distance together, I pulled my trainers back on and set out to do another 3k in the afternoon!!

For the final run, which was today, we set out together and completed a 5k distance to take my total beyond the 100k mark! Delighted that I have completed this challenge with a day to go, and even more delighted that my friends and family have supported me along the way to help me raise so much money for such a worthwhile cause.

Thank you to everyone who has sent me supportive messages and supported Dementia UK with donations.

Week 3 - Ahead of schedule and feeling optimistic

I started week 3 with a bit of a sore leg, having probably overstretched something in my efforts to reach the 8k mark on a run last week. But with some ibuprofen and alternating my daily runs with rest days, I managed to hit my weekly target and even managed another 8.5k run! 

I am now on the home stretch having completed 14 runs with a total of 81.5k. I am well on track, but the shorter month means I now have just 5 days from Monday to complete my 100k challenge!

However, I am feeling optimistic, and friends are now asking how to sponsor me, which is giving me a great boost for my final days of running, as well as hopefully bringing in some extra funds for the Dementia UK charity.

Week 2 - Taking time to think about the importance of this fundraiser

Surprisingly, it actually felt easier to run this week. It is amazing how quickly your body and fitness adapt after just 5 days of running!

I started week 2 by surprising myself with a 7k run. I then pushed myself to add on an 8k run, and by the middle of the week I had reached and exceeded my weekly target ahead of schedule! Jamie has also been matching me in distance since day 1 and doing a great job of encouraging me to complete each run. Our best run so far was one that we did just before sunrise. The early start was rewarded with a beautiful sky above the Victoria Park. What a way to start your day!

Running most days also got me thinking about all the people I was running for that I knew with dementia, as well as all the people that I didn’t know who would benefit from this fundraiser. This was more motivating than any of the podcasts or playlists I was listening to and certainly got me out on the days when I felt tired or the good old Scottish weather nearly kept me indoors with close to zero temperatures and heavy rain joining me for some of my runs! 

Week 1 - The challenge starts with a 25k weekly target!

Day 1 of the challenge started with breaking in some new trainers straight out of the box! The question was—would I be like a greyhound straight out of the traps? Not quite! But it’s the taking part that counts, right?

I have to say, I felt slight apprehension about the runs ahead of me. I had a knee injury a couple of years ago that took nearly 18 months to recover from with 3 months of physio to fix it. Since then, I have only felt comfortable doing a distance of 3k at a time before my knee felt niggly. I started to believe this was my limit. However, on day 1 of the challenge, I found a great running playlist (thank you, Spotify!) and I easily pushed past my "default" run setting of 3k max to complete a 5k distance! Maybe I was better than I thought!

This daily 5k target was to be the benchmark for the next few weeks. The 100k challenge meant I would need to commit to a minimum run distance of 5k at least 5 times a week if I wanted the option of some rest days.

By the end of week 1, some great upbeat tunes and some very amusing interview podcasts by Louis Theroux had helped me to hit my 25k weekly target! The legs definitely hurt at the beginning, but as each day passed, the 5k runs became easier to do, and I was actually enjoying it!!

I was also kept motivated by Jamie, who took on the husband duties of being my support and not only offering to sponsor me for every kilometre I complete but also to match my runs either by coming out to run with me or running in his lunch breaks to stay on track with my solo runs. 

The motivation to run 100k in February….

As we approached the end of January, I decided that I fancied getting back into running again, and I thought it would be good to tie this in with some fundraising for a good cause. Not only would this help a charity, but it would also help me to stay motivated to get out there and get running!

Keen to do something, I started looking for a run challenge, and I came across the Dementia UK personal fundraiser to complete 100k over February. I know many people touched by dementia, including family members and friends who also have people in their lives affected by it. So, on the 1st of February, I signed up for the 100k challenge!