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Sidonie runs the Marathon for the women of Stramullion

Sidonie Baylis, a former staff member, will be running the Edinburgh Marathon on the 25th of May to raise funds for Stramullion where she was a much loved staff member for over two years. We managed to catch up with Sidonie earlier this week to find out how her training is going and what motivated her to take on this amazing feat in the first place.

Hi Sidonie! How is your training going?

It’s challenging but overall going well. I’ve done my longest run before the race now so I’m tapering down while working on fueling and speed as I’m a bit slower than I would like to be.

Have you run a marathon before? If so, what is the experience like?

I haven’t. This time last year I could barely run a 5k and a few years ago I gave up on Couch-to-5k as soon as it made me run for more than a few minutes at a time so this experience has been a big change but really fun and gratifying.

What motivated you to run a marathon in support of Stramullion?

I think there’s something special about being able raise money that will go towards people I’ve known and supported and cared for and who people I’ve worked with and respect and trust to have some control over. And now I’ve left Rowan Alba, I’m glad I’m able to gift something to the charity and the people it homes and supports.

What, if anything, does running long distances have in common with your time as a Support Worker at Stramullion?

Resilience. Being a Support Worker was incredibly challenging and emotional at times and required so much resilience and long runs have brought that up for me too – however both incredibly rewarding too in their own ways.

How do you motivate yourself to keep going?

I’ve signed up for it and told people I’m doing it and committed to raising money for a charity so I have to do it now! Last night I had to almost trick myself into going for my run but we made it out!

Do you have a time in mind for the marathon?

I had in mind around 4:30 but I think now having done my longest training runs, I’ll be happy if I finish it.

What is the best way for people to support you?

The fundraising has been really motivating to get it done so please donate! The issues faced by people experiencing homelessness are numerous and nuanced and complex and the work that Rowan Alba does in supporting people towards safe and resilient futures is invaluable.