A Story of Fate: Rebecca's London Marathon Journey
Rebecca Neeworth, senior quantity surveyor in the contracting team at Holcim UK, has over 11 years of industry experience. In this time, she’s honed her craft and risen through the ranks at Holcim. But what she didn’t have 11 years of experience in, was running. And when you’ve bagged yourself a place in the London Marathon, going from zero to 26.2 miles in a matter of months, is a tall order.
Everything happens for a reason
In her role as senior quantity surveyor, Rebecca manages multiple frameworks in the Midlands, and oversees materials and finances across several projects. Based at Bardon Hill, Rebecca is committed to maintaining strong relationships with her clients and schedules regular monthly face-to-face meetings.
Beyond surveying, Rebecca is the super user for software and plays a key role in its development. Recently adding to the mix work experience plans for young people coming into Holcim UK. And she’s done all of this while training for the London Marathon.
Whether you believe in fate or not, a series of circumstances led Rebecca to gearing up to run the London Marathon this Sunday – not all of which were positive.
“Two years ago, my best friend and I were watching the London Marathon on the TV and we decided to apply for the ballot together, at the same time I added running a marathon to my bucket list,” Rebecca said.
“We didn’t get in at that time, but the following year I had to enter the ballot again on my own. I thought, I'm probably never going to do this but at least I’ve tried.”
Fast forward to Rebecca sitting beside a pool in Italy for her friend’s wedding, when she checked her emails to see that she’d been accepted into the London Marathon through the ballot.
Rebecca said: “I shouted over to the girls that I’d been accepted and they were all in disbelief and asking me what I was going to do. I knew I was going to have to do it because it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity, but I had to start from the very beginning.”
A difficult year
When Rebecca was younger, she used to compete for England in Karate. As part of her training program, she had to attend a summer camp each year where she would be made to go for a morning run every day – which she hated.
“I’ve always struggled to run,” Rebecca said. “It’s never been something that I’ve enjoyed so I was constantly questioning how I was going to be able to run 42 kilometres at the London Marathon.
“I don’t do anything by halves, so I got new running shoes and went for my first 5k park run that same weekend, got a Runna plan and booked in my first 10k race too, all within six weeks. It was all going well but in the middle of the 10k race, my knee gave out on me and it was a hobble to the end.”
This injury ended up being an IT band issue, and was compounded by what Rebecca described as the worst year of her life for various reasons, with the worst being that her dad, Ralph, was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer.
Rebecca said: “We found out within a month of the initial diagnosis that dad was stage 4 and it had spread to his lymph nodes and bones. In July, he went for his first round of chemotherapy and ended up in hospital for two weeks after he contracted an infection which turned into pneumonia. This also meant that they weren’t happy to proceed with any more rounds of chemo, significantly reducing his lifespan.
“It was after dad’s hospital stay that I injured my knee and was really struggling to take the edge off the pain. I tried physio but it didn’t seem to be working, and I had a lot on personally which put running to the back of my mind for a while.”
After meeting her new partner Tom, an Ultra-marathoner, Rebecca asked him if he’d help her with her marathon training and she went from not being able to run one km after her knee injury, to running half a marathon in 10 weeks.
Rebecca said “I’m so grateful to Tom for religiously putting together my training plan every week and holding me accountable. He’s come into my life at the perfect time and I know I wouldn’t be running this marathon without his support.”
Championing Ralph
Rebecca will run the London Marathon to raise money for Prostate Cancer UK and her dad, Ralph, will be in London to support her on the big day.
“I’ve already exceeded my fundraising target which was £2,500 and I’m over the moon with that,” Rebecca said. “I’m looking at it as over £100 per mile which I think will really help push me through the race.”
With her sights set on completing a sub-two-hour half marathon and an Iron Man after the London Marathon, it’s safe to say that Rebecca’s hatred for running has been overcome with help from family, friends and a little bit of fate.
To donate to Rebecca’s fundraiser, please visit: Prostate Cancer UK: Rebecca's page
To find out more about Prostate Cancer UK, please visit: https://prostatecanceruk.org/
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