Louise Damen's Blog by Louise_Damen

Follow athlete Louise Damen in her blog as she shares with you her life as one of Britain's top marathon runners. Louise burst on the marathon scene in a big way after making her debut in the 2011 Virgin London Marathon. In what was her first competitive attempt at the marathon distance she ran an Olympic qualifying time of 2:30:00, the fourth fastest debut by a British woman ever.

Louise started running when she was 14 and experienced much success as a junior athlete. She won four English Schools titles on the track as a schoolgirl before making her debut for the Great Britain junior team at the age of 17. As a senior athlete Louise has represented Great Britain at numerous European and World Cross Country Championships and is the current English National Cross Country Champion.

Louise followed in the footsteps of many elite athletes including Sebastian Coe and Paula Radcliffe by attending Loughborough University, where she studied English and Sports Science. Since graduating Louise has juggled the demands of being an international athlete with teaching A Level PE at Peter Symonds College

‘Damo’ as she is known to her friends lives in Winchester with her partner, Chris, also an accomplished distance runner. She regularly trains with fellow realbuzz blogger, Alan Murchison.