Alness runner who competed at the first Inverness Half Marathon in 1985 set to mark 40th anniversary by competing at event again
FORTY years on from making her debut at the first ever Inverness Half Marathon, Ros Jemmett is looking to conquer the course once again.
The Alness runner took part in the inaugural event which happened in 1985.
Now four decades on and as she turned 60 this year, she wants to commemorate the anniversary of the first time she ran at the event.
Jemmett, who works as an office manager at Ardross Castle, said she only took part in the Inverness Half Marathon after deciding to give up smoking.
She said: “The reason I started running was because I was previously a smoker and the price of cigarettes had gone up to £2 a packet.
“I thought I can’t afford that, so I decided to run with a friend and then I saw the Inverness Half Marathon advertised in the Ross-shire Journal and decided to take part.
“I enjoy running and it was a great reason to give up cigarettes.”
Despite not having much experience of running previously, she enjoyed the challenge of completing the 13.1km course.
It started her passion for running for pleasure and she has gone on to be the event director for Alness Park Run as well as being a JOG leader for Alness JOG Scotland.
She said: “When I first competed, I didn’t have a sportswatch. I was just running alongside people who were super friendly and who were encouraging. I can’t remember my time, but I do remember going out dancing afterwards!”
“This will be my third time running at the Inverness Half Marathon, the second time was 27 years after the first time I had done it in 1985. But I have also volunteered at the Half Marathon.”
Jemmett says that she is looking to continue to run for as long as possible, proving age is no barrier.
She said: “I am delighted to be able to still run at 60 as a lot of people can’t. My intention is to still run at 70 and possibly at 80 if I can.”
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