Tower Hamlets resident Meera Sankaranarayanan has been unveiled as one of the six inspirational women picked by world-record holder Paula Radcliffe to become one of Radcliffe’s Great Runners for the Morrisons Great Newham London Run.
Meera joins five other women, ranging from seasoned runners to complete novices, who were selected from across the UK to be mentored by Paula Radcliffe as they prepare for the run in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on 19th July. The six women selected were picked as they all want to get active and inspire others to take part in the run.
Paula unveiled the six members of Radcliffe’s Great Runners at an exclusive training session this week in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Meera and her teammates had the chance to quiz Paula on her training tips, how to prepare for a 10k race, specific race rituals she had and also suggested training programmes for the next two months as they build up to a 10k. The session finished with a light jog around the South Lawn area of the Park.
Paula said: “Running has given me so much pleasure and a lot of wonderful experiences and I want to share that with these six wonderful women and help them reach their own personal goals.
“I hope that the six women we’ve picked will go on to inspire thousands of other women across the UK to take that first step, sign up for the Morrisons Great Newham London Run and find out for themselves just how amazing running can be. You don’t need to be the fastest or the fittest, you just need to give it a go. I look forward to cheering on my six Radcliffe Runners, as well as the thousands of others taking part in the run on 19th July. And if today has inspired you, there are still places available so sign up now.”
A full-time working mother of two young girls, Meera is hoping that Paula will help her realise her dream of being able to run. She comes from India, where running was a sport only for males – but she has found that living in the UK has presented her with the opportunity to take up running.
“I thank my fortune now to have had an opportunity to come and work in the UK. It is an amazing sight for me to see so many people running every day, rain or shine. It changed my perspective about running as a sport and a physical exercise,” she said.
“My aim in life now is to show my two young girls that there is nothing limiting, if they set their mind to pursue and be successful in whatever they believe. I look forward to completing this run as my mom is visiting us and will be there to watch me at the Olympic Stadium.”
•For further information and to enter the Morrisons Great Newham London Run go to: www.greatrun.org/London