A mum-of-two has gone from couch to marathon runner in just four years with the help of the Health, Wellbeing and Sport team where she works.

Louise Aspinall, from Penryn, first started running back in 2014 when she began her weight loss journey.

Indeed, through hard work and help from the Health, Wellbeing and Sport (HWS) team at Truro and Penwith College, where she is a senior secretary, Louise lost an amazing five stones and four dress sizes.

“When I first started running I didn’t think I could run and then I got to my first 5k and I kept doing more and more races and got so much encouragement from the College that I decided my ultimate goal is to run a marathon,” said Louise.

Even though her running journey has been fraught with setbacks such as torn tendons and snowy cancellations, Louise has refused to give up and has now signed up to her first marathon, the Bournemouth Marathon Festival in October.

As part of her preparations for the marathon, Louise decided to align her participation with some charities so that she could raise money while running. “I got so much interest in me and everything I’ve been doing and I just thought I might as well put it to good use and raise some money for charity,” began Louise.

“I wanted to do something on a larger scale, which is Cancer Research. I’ve got so many friends and relatives that it’s affected and I’ve seen how it’s affected their families. I also wanted to do something local and I wanted to do something for families with children with special needs.”

To find her second charity, Louise turned to a colleague at work that would be able to point her in the right direction.

“I spoke with Theresa Edwards, the Programme Team Leader of Foundation Studies at the College, and she put me in touch with the Helford River Children’s Sailing Trust. They managed to get a hold of this quarry and have the idea to change it into a floating classroom.

"They said how difficult it is getting children with learning difficulties onto the sea because of the safety elements but if they had a purpose-built facility they can get them in the water and get them sailing and kayaking and they can have all of these amazing experiences and I just thought how wonderful.”

While training for the marathon, Louise has been sure to use all of the facilities available at the college.

She added: “I go every one to two weeks to have physiotherapy. It’s really good for the students because they get good experience and can come along with me on my journey as I find new muscles that hurt after training. They give me loads of advice and have been really good,” said Louise.

To say thank you to all of the support she has received from the College, the HWS team and her two chosen charities, Louise will design a t-shirt she can wear on the day with all of their logos on. “Without them, I wouldn’t have gotten this far,” said Louise.

To donate to either charity, visit Louise’s JustGiving page at www.justgiving.com/teams/runningLouise.