Pilch, the specialist sports shop division of Jarrolds, sponsored the Wymondham 10k race which took place on 1 January 2009 on the roads around Wymondham.

The division also joined forces with Diss Mercury and Wymondham Althletic Club to find a runner to take part in the race. The Mercury's sponsored budding athlete with the goal of completing Wymondham Athletic Club's New Year's Day 10k race was Jane Jiggens of Long Stratton.

Jane, 49, beat several other keen would-be runners in this special competition and received top advice from the experts at Wymondham AC as well as running kit and a special gait analysis from the staff at Pilch sports shop in Norwich.

Training and getting ready for six miles over the festive season was quite a challenge for Jane but she is no stranger to setting personal goals. This year she walked/climbed the Great Wall of China but admitted: "I was not as fit as I would like to have been. It was not easy but my what a sense of achievement!"

"So now I am looking for a new challenge, completing 10k by the New Year will certainly be that. Not bad considering I shall be 50 next year - it just goes to show that there is a challenge out there for all, but it is up to us to grab the opportunity when it arises."

And her aims do not end with Wymondham's hugely popular New Year's Day event. In 2010 she has the chance of climbing Kilimanjaro in Africa as part of a team effort so getting fit for that is very much her aim.

As part of her prize, Wymondham AC prepared a training schedule and helped her to complete both the training programme and the race. Brave Jane tackled the challenge with gusto, despite, by her own admission, "not being much of a runner." Expert help and support came from Wymondham Athletic Club and Jane attended several club nights to build her confidence and supplement her own training schedule.

Heavy workload and Christmas threatened to derail her dream of completing the 10k but by the time Mercury deputy editor Tim Warner caught up with her on race day, she was determined to complete the course.

Good running conditions helped the whole field and first time runner Jane finished in just over an hour. Typically she was annoyed at having to walk some of the six miles but she pledged to keep on training and run the whole way round next year!

For information about the specialist advice and equipment available from Pilch please click here

 Jane Jiggens waits for the start

Photo courtesy of Diss Mercury