A GARGRAVE supermum who found running was her forte just a couple of years ago is making it her mission to extol the virtues of the outdoors to promote good health and harmony for the mind and the body.

Helen Foster, 43, who is mum to two sets of twins aged 17 and six, and a 13-year-old, started running on New Year’s Day, 2019.

She said she started off with no fuss or fanfares.

“I ran in the dark so no one saw me. I had zero self-esteem and didn’t want anyone to see me at all. I carried on like that through all of the nine weeks of the ‘couch to 5k’ plan.

“I entered my first 10k at the end of March that year at Light Water Valley. I have never been so scared, but I managed it.”

Helen, who grew up on a farm in Airton, said she also ran a half marathon that year to raise money for the Golden Oldies charity, a charity which ‘assists in the provision and maintenance of care and shelter for stray, neglected and unwanted dogs’.

She chose this in memory of her old dog, Hoover, who went everywhere with her.

A recent run over the last couple of weeks was also supporting this charity, raising over £600 and involved a gruelling four mile run, every four hours for 48 hours.

She had help minding the children during the night runs.

She has completed the Three Peaks twice this year - once through the night - and also runs two ‘couch to 5k’ groups in Skipton and Gargrave.

“I love seeing people progress from a non-runner to being able to run 5k.

Helen said running and being able to get outdoors ‘literally’ saved her live. She was at a mental low and really struggled during that first lockdown to the point the police were checking up on her to make sure she was safe.

Helen says from those first tentative steps in the dark in the middle of winter, she now runs proud and tall and her running helped her budge four stone which she struggled to lose after having the children.

When lockdown hit the first time all races stopped which hit her hard.

She said: “Races kept my focus. I need a focus or else I give us.

“I run with It’s Grim Up North Running; a fantastic supportive company which has supported me through my running journey.

“It started virtual running races which I entered. May 2020 was a marathon week so I ran it in six-mile runs, four in a week all round my local area. I discovered new paths and places I had never been before. It helped me so much in keeping focus and with my mental health. I’ve struggled with my mental health since I was 20ish,” she said.

“My first marathon was in April, 2021. - I came in forth lady! - again with It’s Grim Up North Running, in Bingley, along the canal and back. That was when I finally believed I was a runner.”

Helen says when she slows to walking pace she is usually accompanied by her three youngest children, Archie, 13 and youngest twins Nancie and Jack, along with their Jack Russell dogs, Holly and Ivy.

“We go all over the Dales and the Lake District. The children, love it. They happing do around eight miles and love the hills and the mountains. They’re little adventurers.

She is currently walking to every trig point in the Dales and making notes for a book.

“I am constantly taking pictures and making notes to put a book together in the future which will document all these places you can go. It’s a work in progress.”

She says she has a motto: Fly. If you can’t fly, run. If you can’t run, walk. If you can’t walk, crawl, but never ever give up.

“That’s my mantra. I repeat it to myself on every run and every challenge,” she added.

You can read more about Helen on her Facebook page: The Running Mum.

Anyone still wishing to donate to her latest 4x4x48 challenge can do so at: https://bit.ly/3AcjCao