MARATHON runners are amazing! Six years ago, when Slimpods were launched, Smirti Kotecha was one of the first people to achieve success by losing weight and keeping it off. Now I’m even more proud of her because she’s become the fifth Slimpodder to run the London Marathon, raising money for the wonderful Well Child charity.
Her achievement in running the 26-mile course in six and a half hours is fantastic because in the past few years Smirti has had operations on both knees. She was determined that this wouldn’t stop her from boosting the charity, which does great work in helping children with serious illnesses to be cared for at home.
As Smirti completed mile 26 in The Mall she was all smiles as she stopped for a second to pose for a picture with just 600 yards to go. She was really struggling at that point but was absolutely determined to get to the finish.
Three miles earlier she had stopped because of a pain in her hip and she told me later that she knew that if she sought help from the St John Ambulance she might not be able to get going again. I’d been tracking her on my phone and it was at this point that her tracker stopped and I became really worried about what could have happened to her.
I had no way of getting in touch with her. How was I going to find out if she was OK? What if she needed help? All these thoughts were running through my head as I frantically kept refreshing the tracker app.
Imagine my relief when after at least 20 minutes her tracker kicked back into life and I knew she was on the move again with three agonising miles to go. Have to admit I had tears in my eyes when I finally spotted Smirti coming towards me near Buckingham Palace.
Marathon almost over, Smirti!
That’s where I took this lovely picture of Smirti. Her face shows you the elation runners feel when the end is in sight and they know they have achieved what to most of us would be impossible.
Smirti and I had a teary hug on Horseguards Parade after she proudly collected her Marathon medal. Her husband and her son were there to show their love and support – what an amazing moment!
Smirti has become a yoga teacher in the past year and she says it was the breathing control this has taught her which got her through the Marathon.
I’d love it if you would be kind enough to help raise more money for Smirti’s chosen charity. This is her Just Giving page.
You can read Smirti’s Slimpod success story here. Our first three Marathon heroes, Becca, Darin and Dawn, tell their story here. And you can read about runner number 4, Barbara, here.
