A woman who only started taking marathon running seriously last year is now looking at becoming a part of Team GB.
Rachel Hodgkinson, 30, from Woolton, first started running when she was in university after joining the athletics union. At the time she says her "ultimate goal" was to run a 10k in Sefton Park. She carried on running and completing 5k's, 10k's and half marathons until she completed the Championships of France marathon in 2014 and finished in three hours and 30 minutes.
Even just one year ago Rachel was completing marathons at around the three hour mark before she decided to "take it seriously".
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She told The ECHO: "I always wanted to run, but it's one of them things where you need to have the time and the drive, and when you're in uni you can do anything you want. I made a bee-line for the athletics union and started preparing for a 10k at Sefton Park.
"At the time that was my ultimate goal and it all went from there. Only in the last year have I taken it more seriously, joined Liverpool Harriers and thought 'lets make a real go of this and see what happens'."
Between 2021 and 2022 Rachel managed to bring her marathon running time down from over three hours to two hours and 39 minutes in the Chicago Marathon on October 9, 2022. Six weeks prior to this year's London Marathon, Rachel completed the Tokyo Marathon in two hours and 36 minutes, where she won a gold medal for Great Britain.
The 30-year-old fitness trainer said it was a "pinch me" moment when she finished 19th in the London Marathon overall and took home a silver medal for being the second fastest GB runner at the event.
She said: "It was just surreal, ran a new PB of two hours and 34 minutes, broke a club record for Liverpool Harriers which was set in 2006 and was on the podium with Samantha Harrison and Mo Farah. It's a big deal for the city, I am proud to have represented Liverpool and done us proud.
"I wasn't completely race fit as I have been suffering with shin splints since December last year. I had to back off on a lot of the running and training.
"It was a pinch me moment as Samantha Harrison [A professional GB athlete] told me 'you're now one of us, don't hold yourself back'."
Rachel has now received her England vest, which means she will be stepping up to compete on a national level. But, she has set her sites on qualifying for Team GB and dreams of going to the Olympics.
She said: "I'm a self coached runner, so I think it would be interesting to see what I could do if I had a coach, I was race-fit and even running with the elites you get given water. I was in with the masses just running with a Lucozade so yeah, I wonder what I would be capable of with those things in place.
"I've shaved my time down by half an hour in one year, what's another ten minutes?"
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