The 1% Club: Sophie

In October, Sophie completed the 2025 Altra Yorkshire Marathon, ticking off her first road marathon and joining the 1% club.

The Altra Yorkshire Marathon route is lined with supporters every year as the people of York and beyond come out in force to make it a special race for runners, and for Sophie especially so.

“Whilst running the Yorkshire Marathon I saw so many amazing signs but the ones I remember, and I guess helped me the most referred to ‘my why’.”

“I honestly didn’t realise how impactful my why would be on my running.”

In 2019, Sophie sadly lost her Dad to cancer, and running became an outlet for her grief, as well as a way to process everything she was feeling.

“When I’m running, I have the opportunity to work through what I’m feeling and find a new focus.”

“I also often think about what my dad would say to me now seeing me sign up to challenges such as the Yorkshire Marathon, I imagine it would be something along the lines of you are mad, but you can do anything you put your mind to!”

Another huge why behind Sophie’s running is her health. In 2021, after catching Covid, her health just did not allow her to run.

“I pretty much completely stopped exercising and running was impossible for a long time.”

Sophie slowly worked to build back up her running and fitness and get back to a place where she felt like herself again.

“Around September 2024 I started to feel as though I was finally feeling like myself again and this led me back to something my dad said to me [and] I thought to myself I can do anything I want; I just have to believe.”

“From then on, every time I run, I feel extremely grateful that I can do it but also see challenges as a way to prove this to myself!”

Completing the Altra Yorkshire Marathon was a huge achievement for Sophie, and her ‘why’s’ drove her round the 26.2-mile course.

“Crossing the finish line after hearing so many people shouting my name especially in that final mile was such a proud moment and definitely gave me more proof that I can do anything I want as long as I believe.”