The medical staff at the Windermere Marathon wanted Anastasia Lincoln to stop.
“I had been clipped by the wing mirror of a car,” said the 58-year-old Bradford woman.
“My fingers were like sausages because of the accident but it was mainly my shoulder and elbow that were the problems.
“They wanted me to pack it in but I was determined to carry on, so they strapped me up and I finished.”
It is that kind of determination a couple of years ago that has helped the Idle Athletics Club member complete 50 marathons – even though she only started running about eight years ago – and win the club’s Person of the Year award in 2013.
“That was a surprise,” admitted Idle-based Anastasia, “as was me winning a club berth in April’s London Marathon, even though I have run it five times before.”
Her times may hover around the six-hour mark – “I am not the quickest, and don’t do races that have time limits,” explained the former supply teacher – but there is no disguising the tenacity and ambition of the Coppice View resident, nor her ability to raise cash for charities.
“I have been sponsored to raise money for McMillan Cancer Support, The Stroke Association – “my mum had a stroke a couple of years ago” – the British Heart Foundation, Action Medical Research and SeeAbility (which helps visually impaired adults who have multiple disabilities).”
So how was Anastasia first bitten by the running bug?
She explained: “When I turned 50, my friend Jean Holmes and I decided we should enter the 5k Race For Life in Lister Park.
“Then I started running for Idle AC, doing 10k races, ten-milers, half marathons and then marathons, even after Jean packed up.”
Anastasia, who trains up to five times a week, ran her first marathon at Nottingham seven years ago and her 50th at Newcastle Racecourse on the second Sunday of last month – a year when she completed 13 marathons.
Her hardest have been the Great Langdale and Snowdonia mara-thons because of the uphill terrain, while the easiest have been the flat ones, such as the York Plusnet.
But she is still a novice compared to some, adding: “I hope to have completed 100 marathons in about ten years’ time but I already know some runners who have done over 200, over 500 and even 900!”
Anastasia’s most intensive period was ten marathons in ten days at Windermere in 2009 but she also finished five in five weeks last September and October.
“Mind you,” she added, “I wouldn’t be able to do any were it not for the support of my husband Colin and my son Michael.
“I could drive to the races but it is the driving back when my legs are sore that is the problem.
“While I am running in the marathons, they will go for a walk or visit museums.”
Judging by Anastasia’s determination, Colin and Michael may have plenty of walking and sightseeing ahead of them yet!
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