Sonia Samuels fourth place on home turf at the Great North Run not only ticked an important box but was also the latest step on an impressive running resurgence

It was time to complete the circle. Having been born and raised in Wallsend, Newcastle, Sonia Samuels has had a lifelong relationship with the Great North Run. She vividly remembers being taken down to the start line by her father as a young girl to have her Liz McColgan poster signed by the former 10,000m world champion herself.

There followed two victories for the then aspiring teenager in the Junior Great North Run during the mid-1990s, providing the strongest of hints at the lengthy international sporting career which would unfold and take in appearances at the Commonwealth Games, European Championships, World Championships and, ultimately, the Olympics.

Despite Samuels having raced in all corners of the globe, however, one significant box had remained unticked until this autumn.

A few years back, I thought: Maybe Ive missed my chance to do the Great North Run and it was probably one of my regrets that I hadnt done it, says the now 44-year-old. When the opportunity came up, I was like: Yeah, Im definitely just going to go out, enjoy it, have a go and see what I can do.

The answer was fourth place. Not bad for someone who, not so long ago, thought she was more or less finished with competitive running.

I wasnt seeing myself running past 35, to be honest with you, she says. But it just seems to be getting better.

In 2019, the woman who found her home in the marathon felt she had hit the wall in more ways than one. Competing at the Rio Olympics three years previously had been the realisation of a long-held dream and it seemed there would only be one way to go from there.

Post-Olympics, I really struggled because I think its such a pinnacle of your career that its quite hard then to refocus and find something that really floats your boat after something like that, she says. I went on to do the Commonwealth Games [coming fifth in the Gold Coast marathon in 2018] and I really enjoyed that, but I never quite felt that spark again.

In 2019 [after running London], I said: I really am done, Im not going to do another marathon.

One of the main reasons for wanting to step away was the desire for Samuels to start a family with her husband, the former elite middle-distance runner Nick Samuels, whom she met when both were at Loughborough University. The arrival of their daughter Faith in 2020 changed life forever. The arrival of COVID changed the new mothers relationship with running.

I had said: I dont know if Ill ever race again. I dont feel like I need to prove anything to anyone or even to myself, recalls Samuels. I think COVID actually helped me because there was no pressure whatsoever for me to come back running. It wasnt until I hooked up with [coach] Andy Hobdell a few months after having Faith and he said: How do you fancy having a little bit of fun and seeing what we can do? It just went from there.

The first forays back into racing offered some genuine encouragement. It was then that Andy planted the seed about doing another marathon.

The universe seemed to be operating against Samuels, though. Her attempts to race Valencia at the end of 2021 were thwarted by repeated illnesses brought home due to Faith having started nursery.

An attempt to qualify for a third Commonwealth Games last year fell narrowly short, too, when the Manchester Marathon brought a time of 2:32:32 even when Samuels had been feeling awful. Any disappointment felt was tempered the following day by the news that she had COVID.

Hobdell remained convinced, however, that another big performance over 26.2 miles was within her capabilities. He was right.

We decided to do Berlin last year and thats when I surprised myself with the 2:28, says Samuels of her run of 2:28:15, just nine seconds slower than the PB she had set on the same course in the German capital seven years previously. It remains the second-fastest womens UK V40 marathon performance in history.

In removing the pressurised shackles of the life of a professional athlete, yet still choosing to keep running as a key part of her daily life, Samuels has hit on a training recipe which truly works for her.

She balances her own running with coaching 12 amateur athletes via New Levels Coaching, but its Faith who takes priority and has brought a change of outlook.

I dont feel the pressure like I used to, say Samuels, who gave up teaching back in 2011 to go all in on her Olympic dream. When youre a full-time athlete, its your job and youre trying to make ends meet and youre trying to justify why youre not going out to work full-time.

I dont feel it at all now because first in my mind Im a mother. Going out for a run is just an outlet, its just a bit of fun, and Andy definitely helps with that. Its just for me.

She adds: I found my love for running again. I think Id lost that and thats what I dont want to lose. Ill get into trouble for saying this but I dont see myself as an elite athlete any more. I see myself as a mother who runs.

I used to run twice a day, five days a week. I used to run every day, covering 100 plus miles a week. Now I get out six days a week, once a day, and I wont ever run twice a day again. I dont want to do that again, Ive found that balance.

I dont think I could go back to your living and eating and breathing running. Ive done that and I like where I am right now.

When Samuels steps on a start line now, its because she has chosen to be there rather because she has to be. Rather than the intensity of the elite side of things, where she can recall competitors being far more aloof and sizing each other up, she is far happier to step out of that mindset and chat to those around her.

The elite side is more intense and you dont always get on with everybody, she says. One thing Ive learned is that I probably took things a bit too seriously, but I think thats the way it makes you when youre really striving to achieve something like making the Olympic team.

Its the be all and end all and sometimes you forget to enjoy the other stuff around it because youre so focused on the outcome. I think if Id worked with Andy 10-15 years ago, it might have been different as well. I wish, back then, Id been a little bit more like I am now. It would have made a difference.

I also think it comes from experience and age. Youre just a little bit more at peace with yourself and less bothered by what everybody else thinks. I think thats part of the problem youre always worried about other people and what they think. Its the Instagram thing. Were not going to give you kit because youre not an influencer. And Im like: Im not spending my life on Instagram so I can get free trainers.

Samuels takes great satisfaction from being able to impart some wisdom to the athletes she mentors and coaching is a side of the sport she would eventually like to develop, particularly with those who are pursuing more personal landmarks rather than international success.

They are really good people to work with, she says. I dont know if I could work with elite athletes because I think, without sounding horrible, a lot of them see themselves as being a bit entitled.

It might be that, one day, three-year-old Faith will need some guidance. An energetic, sporty little girl, Samuels admits: Shes actually really good at drills. Shes nailing the high knees.

And this is her quote, not mine. She says that shes the fastest Faith and that shes faster than Faith Kipyegon, so she knows who Faith Kipyegon is.

For now, though, Faiths favourite role is to take her seat on the back of her dads bike to be her mums bottle carrier on long runs and during races.

She was to be found cheering during various points on the Great North Run course, while Nick and Faith being at the finish line in Berlin last year was, Samuels says, the best ever.

It turns out her marathon journey might not be run quite yet, either. Valencia is in the calendar for December and, though she would never rule out competing for her country again, there is simply great contentment at continuing to go through the training process.

I say to my own athletes: Whether you run a PB or you dont, what I want you to remember is the three months of hard work the good times and maybe bad times that youve had getting there, says Samuels.

Thats what you should be proud of not the outcome, because that doesnt always reflect the journey that youve had to get there.

Thats what running is. Its supposed to be fun. Its supposed to be adding something good to your life, not getting you down because you dont always get the results you want.