Running certainly makes for a strong body but if you want to argue that the benefits of a gruelling marathon, or a weekly 5k end there, you’ll have a hard time persuading retired British athlete, Dame Kelly Holmes.

Guest editing the second Woman’s Hour Takeover on Radio 4 yesterday, Kelly presented sport as a transformative force that’s as mentally beneficial as it is physically.

Kelly recalled how getting involved in athletics helped her find a positive focus during childhood. ‘Going out on the playing field put me on a level playing field’, she recalls. ‘I felt good about myself. I felt free’.

Kelly also highlighted the fact that sport equips you with valuable, transferable skills : when you’re faced with a challenge, in work as in sporting life ‘you have to use the same sort of determination…and motivation… to achieve.’

Inspired? Sign up to run We Own the Night with ELLE now. It’s going to be a 10k race like no other.

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