Tavistock runner Annette Smith has completed her first ever half marathon after turning 70 earlier this month...but it was purely by accident!

Annette, who started running five years ago on the Couch to 5K programme, entered the Plymouth 10K run on Sunday but ended up running the half marathon instead when she got caught up on the wrong route.

Initially upset that she had let her teammates down, she is now celebrating her biggest ever achievement and has been given a gold standard award by Tavistock Athletic Club for running the distance in an amazing two hours and 15 minutes.

The Tavistock resident explained: ‘All the runners went off at the same time for the 10K and the half marathon and I don’t know if it was my mistake or the marshals but when the race split I ended up in the wrong group.

‘I only realised when I had a few miles to go as the bibs of the runners on my route were blue and not orange like mine.

‘A marshal advised me to walk the rest of the way but there was no way I was going to give up then so I kept going and I did it. It was beyond my expectations as I always said my limit was the Tavy 7 or 10K.

‘I did not think I would be capable of a half marathon and certainly didn’t think I had trained enough for that. I was a bit emotional at the time because I thought I had let everyone down not completing the 10K but they gave me two medals anyway — one for the 10K and one the half marathon. I was really chuffed.

‘I think I got special treatment at the end because people knew I was in the wrong group and the marshals kept checking on me and giving me drinks. There was so many people watching and the atmosphere was pretty amazing, that certainly helped me make it to the end. I just kept running.’

Annette, a former care worker at Moorgate, Crelake and Chollacott care homes, said she was feeling a bit stiff after her run but also had a new lease of life.

‘To be honest I was thinking of scaling back a bit on the running but this has given me a new determination — I think I am going to treat myself to some new trainers.’

Annette said running had changed her life.

‘I took it up at 65 as a friend wanted to join Couch to 5K and I reluctantly agreed to go with her. She stopped after a while but I had got the bug by then and found I was quite good at it and enjoyed the social side of it.

‘It’s great for your physical and mental health but I made so many friends and some have become really good friends. We race together at events and really enjoy it.’

‘I would encourage anyone who is thinking about it to give it a go.’