Shelly joins the runners (From Swindon Advertiser)

Shelly joins the runners

1:40pm Friday 2nd October 2009 in

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SHELLEY Fennell will be joining more than 1,600 runners at the Swindon Half Marathon.

Organisers of the October 11 race have been delighted by the late surge of entries for the prestigious 13-mile race, which starts and finishes from outside the Nationwide building in Pipers Way.

Shelley, who is a familiar figure at Asda Wal-Mart at the Orbital, will be running the course for the fifth time.

“I would like to do it in two-and-a-half hours,” she said. “That would be good for me in my condition as I do have to walk a bit.

“I Love Swindon because of the lovely runs, the spaces, the walks are ideal and plenty of footpaths. I feel safe running around on my own and people are so friendly when you are running.”

Shelley works as a greeter at the North Swindon store. She has worked there since it opened eight years ago.

She is also in charge of the wheelchairs and the electric scooters.

“Our scooters have gone missing; we have found them as far Moredon,” she said. “The police have phoned us. We’ve had to get a taxi to go and get them because they run out of power. I think it must be children joyriding. We’ve had one scooter involved in a road accident with the police. The police kept it at the police station all smashed up.”

Shelley is on her feet for 21 hours a week at work and then in her spare time trains for marathons.

“I raise money for breast cancer which involves walking a lot and I raise money for the Ileostomy Association,” explained Shelley. “I buy my shoes and record how many miles I do in them each year. I get 500 miles out of them.

“I have discovered you need two pairs of shoes, for walking you need a bigger pair because your foot is on the ground all the time and it stretches more. When I do the MoonWalk I wear the bigger pair, when I am running I can come back a size.

“I started running in 2005 when I was accepted for the London Marathon. I did it in six hours and 44 minutes; I can now walk it quicker than that.”

Running has introduced Shelley to a number of celebrities, including marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe, who she met at the London Hyde Park Run.

“Last year I met Christopher Biggins, and Lesley Joseph called me over and interviewed me for Radio London. At this year’s MoonWalk I met Paul O’Grady. He is a very nice man, very pleasant and chatty. He was dressed up in a lovely bra.”

l If you are running for a special cause or doing anything unusual as part of the Swindon Half Marathon, we want to hear from you. Send us your stories to: newsdesk@swindonadvertiser.co.uk or call 01793 501802.