EXCLUSIVE I used to run to make myself thin. But I finally discovered the joy of jogging in my 40s after my doctor delivered some gut-wrenching news
Writer Emma Campbell espoused the benefits of imperfect running with Mail columnist Bryony Gordon, revealing how embarking on a new fitness journey in middle age carried her through the trauma of receiving a third cancer diagnosis.
On the latest episode of The Mail's 'The Life of Bryony' podcast, author Emma Campbell and comedian turned marathon runner Helen Thorne, declared their love of running, crediting the sport for keeping them sane during some of the most trying moments of their lives.
Emma said she only discovered the 'magic' of running in her forties having been diagnosed with the disease for a third time, forcing a rethink in her approach to exercise.
The 'All That Followed' and 'One Day at a Time' author lives with stage four cancer and is a mother to four teenagers.
'My life-changing running journey only began back in 2019, when I got my third cancer diagnosis ', Emma described.
'Before that, all I'd done is throw myself around, to shrink myself – I would do these punishing runs.
'Helen had just started chemotherapy, and our paths crossed. We met for a coffee, and she recommended we go running together.
'That year, on the physical front, I had a mastectomy, lung surgery and chemotherapy. But 2019 was a transformative year in so many other ways because I discovered running.
'It helped me deal with my body: to be able to look at my body and accept it differently.'
The writer emphasised the extent to which she 'fell in love' with running, revealing that she had run a 10k the day before lifesaving lung surgery.
'It's not about thinking of myself as such a hero', Emma told Bryony.
'Running created a mindset in me that helped me get through what was a really challenging year. It turned out to be a brilliant year – it was magic.'
Helen Thorne, best known as one part of the anarchic comedy duo Scummy Mummies, concurred with Emma about the transformative effects of running.
She has completed six of the seven most famous marathons across the world but only began her long-distance running journey in middle age after finding out her husband had been unfaithful.
Helen revealed: 'At the beginning of 2020, I was signed up to do the marathon and then the big lockdown happened in March.
'My marriage then collapsed: I found my husband had been having an affair. My life had blown up.
'I was drinking and smoking quite heavily – it was Olympic standards of self-destruction. I then thought I had to turn my life around.
'So, in 2021, I did my first marathon – I started choosing my health more. I have since done 9 marathons.'
The active pair stressed that the value of running is not connected to how fit you are or how far you can go.
'I don't want to talk in cliches, but it's all about why you're doing it', Emma said.
'If it makes you feel better, if it makes you feel more alive, more connected – then that's brilliant. There are so many positives and very few negatives.
This chimed with host Bryony Gordon, who has become somewhat of a poster girl on social media for the joys of exercise, regardless of your size.
She recently ran the London marathon in her underwear, a statement against a toxic fitness culture that alienates people from exercising.
The columnist remarked: 'People say – 'I wish I had the confidence to do that.' I don't. I do it because I don't have confidence.
'I wasted years obsessing over my body. I run in my pants as a big two fingers up to all the expectations that tell me not to.'
In the candid spirit of the podcast, Helen gave one piece of unconventional advice to listeners thinking of giving running a go.
'Lubricate your crack, that's one of my top tips', the comedian said.
'Vaseline your arse hole. If you have a hairy bottom, it's just marvelous.'
To listen to the full episode, where the pair discuss how to start running as a beginner and how exercise helps in navigating life's challenges, search Life of Bryony, wherever you get your podcasts.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Glasgow Times
2 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
Royal Mint most valuable 50p coins as 10 rarest 50p revealed
We are all being urged to check our change for these valuable coins which, in some cases, are being sold for more than 400 times their face value on online auction sites such as eBay. The famous Kew Gardens 50p was recently knocked off the top spot of rarest 50p coins in the UK when the Royal Mint released the Atlantic Salmon coin. This coin was released with a mintage of just 200,000, the Royal Mint said, narrowly beating the Kew Gardens 50p which had a mintage of 210,000. Other rare designs include Olympic-themed 50ps minted in 2011. Since moving to pounds and pence in 1971, more than 70 variations of the 50p coin have been minted, including several rare designs which could be worth a lot more than 50p. Rarest 50p coins in circulation the UK? The Royal Mint recently named the Atlantic Salmon 50p as the coin as the rarest currently in circulation in the UK, with just 200,000 copies minted. The coin knocked the 'highly collectable' 2009 Kew Gardens 50p off the top spot for the first time in 15 years, the official maker of British coins said. The Kew Gardens 50p sells for £156.25 on average, but one seller received over £700 for one when they sold it on eBay. The other rarest coins stem predominantly from the 2011 Olympics, with the wrestling, football and judo coins among the most valuable. Only 1.1million of each of these coins were produced. Flopsy bunny and Peter Rabbit designs which were produced in 2018 are also highly valuable. Recommend Reading These coins - 1.4 million of which were minted - depict the characters from Beatrix Potter's novels and celebrate the life of the English writer and these sell for around £5. In 2019, 500 million coins were produced, with three new 50p designs. These included one of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, Paddington Bear at St Paul's Cathedral and the Tower of London. What makes a coin valuable? The 50 pence piece has become the most valued and collected coin in the UK, with many collectable designs appearing on its heptagonal canvas. Its 27.5mm diameter makes it the largest of any British coin, and allows space for decorative pictures. It has often been used to celebrate big events over the past 50 years of British history. The rarest coins tend to be of the greatest value, with the mintage (number of coins with each design made) being the fundamental attraction for collectors. Along with the design, other aspects of the coin which increase value are the condition of the coin and whether it has an error in its design. The way in which it is sold can also determine the coin's value - while some coin collectors will bid vast amounts of money on eBay or at auction, others opt for more robust valuations by selling via a coin dealer. Top 10 most valuable 50p coins, according to Royal Mint Here is a list of the top 10 most valuable coins, when they were made and how many were minted:
Daily Mirror
3 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
'I spent a week holidaying in UK seaside town and came home broke'
There's nothing better than going on family holiday and, after a beautiful but terribly rainy week away to Cumbria last year, my fiancé and his loved ones opted for Norfolk for our annual getaway this year. Seaside towns sometimes get a bad rap but I'm quite the fan of them. As my fiancé and I are saving for a wedding, a holiday abroad is off the cards for the foreseeable future while we save up so we - wrongly - assumed venturing to a local seaside town would help us switch off and relax for a fraction of the cost. I know, we were very silly. There's plenty of gorgeous staycation spots well worth exploring in the UK and while sunshine isn't guaranteed, there's a boatload of beautiful scenery and retro charm on offer. My fiancé's family are big fans of Norfolk, and he spent many childhood summers in Hunstanton over-indulging in fish and chips, ice cream, fairground rides and more. On the quest for some much-needed nostalgia, we planned a family holiday to the popular seaside town. The retro charm of arcade games, the buzz of the Waltzers, the constant sound and aroma of the sea, and the never-ending array of sweet shops had me feeling like a child all over again. Early on, we were keen to visit the fairground and take advantage of the rides my fiancé grew up loving - as well as a stomach-churning, twisty contraption named Insomnia which had my stomach doing more flips than an Olympic gymnast. A word of advice: don't re-watch the Final Destination franchise in the days leading up to getting on fairground rides - especially the third one which begins at, you guessed it, a theme park. I didn't end up going on many rides - and it wasn't because I didn't want to. It was because they were just so expensive. I imagine we were relatively naïve in our assumptions about how much things were going to cost but neither my fiancé nor the rest of the family were prepared to have to spend a minimum of £3.50 per person per ride. Some rides were more costly than that too, so it didn't take long for our holiday fund to be depleted by our desire to chase an adrenaline rush. Add in the cost of drinks (£2.50 minimum for a standard can of Diet Coke?!), ice cream at £3 per scoop (and realistically, who's going to get just one scoop?), and fish and chips being significantly more expensive than I remember, and one day at the fairground became one of the most expensive excursions during our week away. As there were eight of us, we split into two groups of four and stayed near one another in local holiday homes. Ours was far too small for four adults, with a kitchenette not equipped for cooking proper meals. This meant we had to eat out most evenings - and we usually grabbed lunch while we were out and about, too. An ice cream here, a sandwich there, it doesn't take much - at least, in England - before we were spending at least £100 a day. We visited Wells-next-the-sea, which is a beautiful and serene seaside haunt with some gorgeous independent cafes and restaurants, a calming seafront, and beautiful woodland walks. On street parking was a no-go, so we had to cough up £11 to park in a carpark near the thick of the action. We visited the popular Plattens cafe for lunch where my fiance and I got a portion of chips and a vegan sausage each, as well as a can of Pepsi Max (far superior to Diet Coke in my humble opinion) and our bill came to £17.20. The portions of chips were generous and the sausages were delicious, so it didn't seem that outlandish but I am baffled we're living in a world where two portions of chips, two cans and two sausages costs almost £20. Is this the new normal? Where does it end? We quickly realised our staycation was costing just as much as a few days away in Spain might have done. Don't get me wrong, I had a truly wonderful, relaxed time and allowed my nostalgia to really fly free but the steep cost of basic treats like ice cream and soft drinks, and the seemingly ever increasing cost of chips, does make me concerned about how long tourist towns will survive for. Staycations are wonderful, and it's great to explore and enjoy the country you live in, but it's certainly not a cheaper option than going abroad but in the past, it was. I wouldn't be in a rush to revisit a local seaside town - not unless I'd saved up hundreds and hundreds of pounds so buying an ice cream won't fill me with dread and anxiety.
The Courier
4 hours ago
- The Courier
Bridge of Allan mum reveals what it was like behind the scenes on Location, Location, Location
A Bridge of Allan mum has revealed what it was like behind the scenes on popular TV property show Location, Location, Location. Lorraine Macleod starred on Wednesday's episode of the Channel 4 programme with her daughter Emma Carman. Hosts Phil Spencer and Kirstie Allsopp were trying to help the pair – who were living with Lorraine's parents – find a new home on a budget of £275,000. Despite offering well above the asking price for a cottage in Torbrex, Lorraine and Emma lost out on that house. However, a few weeks later, they bought a 'perfect' three-bedroom townhouse in Bridge of Allan for £255,000. Lorraine, 48, told The Courier that her mum convinced her to apply to be on Location, Location, Location. She said: 'We were struggling to find a property, and we were living at my mum and dad's place at that point and had been for around six months. 'Mum is a particularly huge fan of the show, and she said, 'You qualify, you're chain-free, you could do this'. 'I think it was her way of saying, 'Please leave!'' From there, it took months of screening to be approved to go on the Channel 4 show. The Stirling episode was filmed around a year ago. Lorraine told The Courier that about 90 properties were looked at before the final four were selected for the pair to view. It was also a huge surprise when Lorraine's daughter, Meg, returned from Australia. She and Emma had prioritised a three-bedroom property in their search so that the 24-year-old would have a place to stay when she got back to Stirling. Lorraine said: 'They were looking to get hold of Meg to include her by doing filming with her over Zoom while she was still in Australia. 'It wasn't working out and we weren't getting the timings right, etc, but actually, as it turned out, she was paying us a surprise visit and on her way home. 'That's why we couldn't get her. 'It was a bit of a shock when she walked through the door.' Meg returned to Australia in January and is 'living her best life' at Bondi Beach. Location, Location, Location also inspired Emma, 20, to start working for an estate agent alongside her law studies. While the pair lost out on the Torbrex cottage, the mum-of-two says it 'wasn't meant to be'. Lorraine said: 'We ended up with an incredible property that's really perfect in Bridge of Allan. 'What's for you won't go by you.' Lorraine says she is grateful to be close to her sister, who has young children, and to have a thriving high street on her doorstep. Meeting Phil and Kirstie was also a highlight for Lorraine. She added: 'They're really nice people. 'We thoroughly enjoyed being part of it. 'I would definitely recommend it if anybody else was looking for a little bit of help in that direction.'
