Running and Life – Hannah Fletcher

running and life

Huw is left amazed and slightly bewildered after chatting with Hannah Fletcher about her approach to running. 

Hannah Fletcher

Age: 38

HW: How did you first get into running?

HF: I saw a post on Facebook from Tenbury Runners. They’re not a running club as such, just a group that meet up to run twice a week.

HW: So like a running club, but not a club.

HF: That’s it.

HF: I entered the Ludlow 10K with Jo Tilby. We just did it for fun. There’s a picture of Jo and me running and laughing. They still use that picture to promote the race.

Sometime after that Claire Thomas said I should maybe take my running a bit more seriously. I have, a bit. I did my first Marathon in Manchester in 2019 and loved it. I did it in 3 hours 38 minutes.

HW: So when would you say you really started taking your running seriously?

HF: I’m not sure, hang on – I’ll have a look in my box of medals.

(sounds of metal clanking)

HF: ‘A lot of them don’t have the dates on you know?’.2017, 2019. 2018. Maybe I haven’t been running as long as I thought? Here’s another one from; wait …..2017. That can’t be right! Do people really remember all the races they’ve run?

HW: I’ve been interviewing Bryan and Tom and Guy and Mike over the last few weeks – they can remember races and times from 40 years ago!

HF: You’re joking right? I can’t remember what I did last week. I’ve got one here for The Whitbourne Half Marathon. 8th October 2017. Where’s Whitbourne? I can’t remember going there.

HF: Hang on, here’s two more. Oh, no; they’re from 2020 and 2021. My first Aquathon was in 2019. Is that any good?

HW: Not really.

HF: I think other people know my races and stuff better than I do.

HW. You surprise me.

HF: Ahh, hang on – Worcester Marathon and Half Marathon 2010. I did the half. It’s a bit of a rubbish medal though isn’t it? I’d be a bit pissed of with that if I’d done the Marathon and got that.

HW: Shall we go with that? You started to take running more seriously about 10 or 12 years ago? When I say seriously I’m talking in the loosest possible sense.

HF: That sounds about right. Maybe 10 years ago or so.

HW: What’s a typical running week for you?

HF: I’m building up my training for the Amsterdam Marathon in October but In a normal week I like to run between 35 and 45 miles. Most weeks I’ll do 10 miles on a Monday and my long run of about 14 miles on a Tuesday. Mentally I find that the 14 mile run doesn’t feel as long if I’ve done 10 miles the day before.

Then I fill the rest of the week up with 6 or 8 mile runs. In the summer I’ll often get up at 5.30 and do the 6 milers before the family get up.

HW: 5:30am?

HF: Yes, I get it done before the family get up. If I don’t people will moan that I’m always out running. I usually meet up with Claire for the early morning runs.

I also try to do some mile reps or hill sprints when I can’t get to training with the club.

HW: And you’ll be increasing your running in preparation for Amsterdam?

HF: Sort of, yes. If I do a good half I’ll get a qualifying time for New York. It will take the pressure off getting a time in Amsterdam. I just want to have fun in Amsterdam and enjoy it. I’ve already qualified for London next year – provided they don’t change the times!

HW: What’s your most memorable run?

HF: It was the virtual London Marathon I ran with Claire during lockdown. The London Marathon had been moved to October but then been cancelled again. I rang Claire to see if she fancied doing it around the roads close to where we lived.

We had loads of support. People came out and cheered us on. They put water out (which we couldn’t have because of Covid). We even ran on different sides of the road because of the two-metre rule!

It was such a laugh. We just ran and chatted. We hadn’t seen each other for ages because of the lockdown. When we got to our street they had put out flags and a finishing ribbon for us to run through. They had even made us medals! It was amazing.

It was quite hilly but we managed to run it in 3 hours 22 minutes. I was very happy with that.

I did man v horse with Claire the other weekend. I don’t like horses much. We did it in 3hrs 40 minutes

HW: What’s in the diary?

HF:

Newtown Half Marathon (Date TBC))

Summer League Cross Countries on the 13th and 27th of July

Amsterdam Marathon – 16 October

I’ll also book a few 10k’s to keep me focussed. I’m hoping to run London Marathon in April next year if I can get a qualifying time and New York Marathon in 2023 for my 40th Birthday!

HW: What do you most love about running?

HF: I just love how it makes me feel. I get very stressed with work. I go out running – it’s like a weight’s been lifted. I always say it makes me a nicer person. J

HW: What do you do for a living?

HF: I run my own cleaning company; Teme Clean. We clean holiday homes, end of tenancy lets, ovens, carpets. Quite a lot really. I’ve got 19 staff now.

I’m training someone up to take over all the stuff I do so that I can spend time on a new business specialising in hair replacements for men. I’m going to have a salon in Kyer Park gardens near Tenbury. With the new techniques guys can go to the gym and swim and everything. I’ve got a waiting list already. Hopefully I’ll be open by the end of July.

HW: So you’ll have two companies – a cleaning business and another one that helps men with hair issues?

HF: That’s right.

HW: Who do you live with?

HF: With my husband Ashley and children Harmony (12), Poppy (11) and Izmai (9). My step daughter Lidia is 18 now and comes to visit most weeks.

HW: Have you any pets?

HF: Yes, two dogs; Matilda a St Bernard and Roxy a Cavapoo.

HW: What’s your favourite Cornetto flavour?

HF: I prefer a Solero or a Snickers but, I think if it was a Cornetto, it would have to be the nutty one.

HW: You don’t say.

2 thoughts on “Running and Life – Hannah Fletcher

Leave a Reply to HuwCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.