Hair pulled back, no make-up on, sweat dripping off your chin – you might think that you running is you looking your worst, but I disagree. There’s a shelf in my mum’s house with four pictures on. Three are wedding pictures of my sister and two brothers on their wedding days and they look nice. The fourth has a picture of me in it. I have sweat all over my face, snot on my t-shirt and a cap covering messy hair.

In reality, I don’t look the best I ever have and it’s definitely not how I’d choose to look for going on a date/going to court/picking up my OBE (only the second one of these is likely in the near future). But at the same time I look pretty awesome. I’m half way round my first marathon and I’m smiling.

But wait, didn’t I write a while back that running won’t make you look hot? That’s correct. It won’t, not in the way that conforms to conventional respesentations of ‘hotness’ presented to us in magazines and on TV. But looking awesome if different to looking hot.

If you’re one of the people who only run at the gym or after dark through fear of being seen running and sweating by people that aren’t, get over it. Or worse, maybe you’re one of those people that runs with full make-up and perfect hair without it ever getting messed up. True story: last week I saw a woman running with her hair in a beehive and full make-up, neither of which were going anywhere because there was no sweat and no effort.

If you’re bothered how you look when you’re running along, you’re going to hold something back. Sweat is the sign of a good run. The more you sweat, the more impressed you should be with your reflection. And remember, it’s not sweat – it’s awesome juice.

So, next time you get home from a long run, go stand in front of the mirror and if you’ve worked hard and sweated hard, no matter what shape or size you are, repeat after me: “This is what awesome looks like.”