Retired footballer Lorea Sarobe has expressed that she is “grateful” to be entered into and running the London Marathon next year.
“The thing is, I did not decide this. It was my partner who entered me. I kind of knew that this was happening, but I also know it’s very very difficult to get a place.
“So I got entered as an independent person and an independent ballot, mainly because for the charity ballot, you need to raise a certain amount of money to a certain charity. And if I was to raise any money, it would be for a local charity who I have some affiliations with previously.
“To my surprise, in July I got an email saying you’re in! So suddenly I had to like, put a lot of objectives and a bit of focus, a bit of a target moving forward.”
The charity is one that is close to her heart, and a smaller one that will really benefit from all the money she raises.
“I am going to raise some money to a local charity called Heidi’s Heroes,” she explained.
“I’ve been involved with Heidi’s Heroes and done different challenges and races since 2017, and that was through a connection that I made at the University of Gloucestershire, when I used to work here beforehand.
“I used to support the talented and elite athletes that came to university to study a degree, but also carry on with their sporting ambitions and I used to advise them in the lifestyle element of it.
“One of the students had this charity set up and once I left the university, I was looking for a challenge moving forward so I entered the Tewkesbury Half Marathon and I decided to raise some money for somebody that I had a connection with.”
As a former footballer, running is certainly not something she’s a stranger to. She’s also been into running since her retirement, but there are clear differences in the training regime.
“Obviously running was part of the game, but you much more enjoy kicking a ball and things like that rather than going for a full hour of running.
“After I left football, I actually got a little bit more into trail running and into cycling. So there has been a bit of a crossover in training happening throughout the years.”
She’s also recognised that there are differences between trail running and road running, and is aware of the challenges that may bring.
“The adaptation that I need to make is to the pounding on asphalt on the road rather than the trail,” Sarobe said.
“It’s just a little bit more taxing, on my ankles and my knees.”
Sarobe had a successful footballing career not just in England, but also back in Spain. Looking back, she says it’s now when she finally realises everything she achieved.
“I think when you are actually playing the game, you maybe don’t realise and you don’t actually digest what you achieve.
“I came from almost a semi-pro background in Spain and we nearly managed to get promoted to the top division.
“I don’t think we lost a single game, and then went into some sort of mini tournament to go into the premiership over there, and you just then realise that actually, we didn’t have much support. We just had a really good group of girls that got together and pulled each other up.
“The same with my time at Forest Green, we were also a small team training very little, but with very talented players that could actually put on a performance.”
Click here to follow all our sporting updates today.
