Paula Black: From the sofa to marathoner and MND ambassador

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In Episode 12 of the Running Tales podcast, in collaboration with Run Tri Bike, Craig Lewis caught up with marathoner and ultra runner, Paula Black.

Every year, Paula would sit and watch the London Marathon, dreaming about entering the UK’s flagship long-distance event.

But despite that desire, she would always conclude that running 26.2 miles was out of her reach.

It was only when her children were both at nursery, and she suddenly had some free time, that things started to change for Paula. She decided to walk the 1.7 miles home after dropping them off and then walk back to the nursery to pick them up again.

Eventually, to save time, she started running home. The first time she did so, it took her 21 minutes and she thought she was going to pass out.

But Paula kept at it and running became easier. So much so that when she took on the 2010 Race for Life at Silverstone, she was able to run all the way, finishing in 34 minutes.

A year later, Paula was back to watching the London Marathon again, but this time she took the plunge and applied to run it. It was her first time in the ballot… but incredibly she got in!

Thinking it would be a one time thing, Paula trained hard and set herself a goal of finishing in under five hours.

When the big day came in 2012 she managed to beat that target… just! Her final time of four hours, 59 minutes and 58 seconds was just two seconds within her goal.

That was only the beginning of her London experience though. The lure of a new PB took her back in 2014, 2016 and 2019.

In the last of those races, Paula hit her goal, smashing her 2012 time to finish in four hours and 44 minutes.

That success was achieved despite Paula only having been able to run up to 13 miles in training after her husband, David, sadly passed away in 2018.

David, who was a keen marathon runner himself, had been diagnosed with MND and the couple had campaigned to raise awareness of the condition.

As Paula waited in the London Marathon 2019 warm-up pen, David's favourite song blasted out to herald an emotional start to an incredible run. He was in her mind again when she took on the Great North Run, one of David's favourite races and an event she said she had to do just once for him.

As well as running Britain's biggest marathon and half-marathon events, Paula has also completed marathons in York, Manchester and Bournemouth, as well as a host of half-marathons.

She's also gone on to conquer longer distances, with The Thames Path, Wye Valley, Cotswold Way, Yorkshire and Peak District challenges all on her CV, as well as London to Brighton. 

Although Paula says she walks most of these 100km events, she has still completed them all in less than 24 hours.

In more recent years, her running and fundraising efforts for MND have led her to a job working as a Regional Community Fundraiser for the MND Association.