I’d been running a little under a year when I first realised where running could take me. I don’t mean in the metaphorical sense – it’s taken me to do all sorts of things I would never have done before I became a runner, like going travelling round the world by myself – I mean in a very literal sense.

I was on holiday in India in the January of 2009. I was staying in the hills by the village of Munar in Kerala surrounded by tea plantations. A guide at the B&B where I was staying said he’d seen wild elephants in the hills the day before and asked if a group of guests would like to go on a hike to see them. Of course we would.

So armed with bottles of water and wearing flimsy trainers a group of 10 people followed him up a hill. This hill became another hill, and then another hill. Gradually people started to drop out of the walk and slumped to the ground to stay put until the group returned by the same path later in the day. Motivated by a pile of fresh elephant poo, a small group of us carried on following our guide.

Then two more dropped out, huffing and puffing up what was now clearly not a hill, but a mountain. It was just me, the guide and an elderly gentleman (70ish) who was wearing a pair of smart leather shoes. We carried on over two more peaks until we reached the top of the mountain. I was huffing and puffing, my legs ached and the guide was still looking like he’d taken a short stroll to the shops.

We didn’t see any elephants that day. The lure of seeing them was what got me up there but the view at the top of the mountain was worth it in itself. I have a photo of me sat at the top looking out. I’d felt pleased that I’d made it all the way up there – I knew that if I hadn’t started running nine months earlier I too would have sat down on the trail waiting for the guide to return.

In June this year I went to Croatia and I climbed another massive hill. This time I didn’t need the motivation of seeing a wild elephant to make me want to climb it. I climbed it for the fun of it, and because I could. Because running had made me fit and strong.

Once upon a time I entered a marathon because the idea of crossing the finish line kept me running when I wanted to stop and sit down on the trail. Unlike those pesky elephants, I found the finish of that first marathon. But like the hills I now climb for fun, I keep entering marathons – not to keep me running but because I enjoy them and because I can.