Shona aims for Beijing Olympics (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Shona aims for Beijing Olympics

AFTER being picked to represent Scotland in this year's Commonwealth Games, a member of Bourton-on-the-Water's running club has spoken of her Olympic dream.

Bourton Road Runners' Shona Crombie-Hicks, 34, who defied doctors' orders to continue running, will compete in the ladies' marathon at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia, on Sunday, March 19.

The ex-jockey hopes that completing the 26 miles, 385 yards in a personal best time will propel her into Great Britain's marathon squad for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Aberdeen-born Shona's father was Scottish and her mother Irish.

A year after her birth, Shona, her parents and sister, Maria, moved to Portsmouth to live near her mother Claire's family.

Winning her school's sponsored walk suggested she had a long-distance runner's stamina.

"I was always quite a hyperactive child," she recalled. "I was never still."

Horse racing, not running, captured her imagination because she watched the equine sport on television.

Having learned to ride horses, 16-year-old Shona found employment as a stable girl at John Dunlop's West Sussex racing yard.

Three years later, she moved to New Zealand after hearing that once there she would be more likely to become a jockey.

Achieving her ambition, she rode 11 winners for an Auckland trainer.

Returning home after three years, to attend her father Norman's funeral, she became a jockey for Lady Herries, another West Sussex trainer.

The highlight of her racing career came when she rode Aitch N' Bee to victory at Wolverhampton in 1995, beating Frankie Dettori into third.

Reaching her 25th birthday meant Shona ceased being entitled to weight allowance because she was no longer an apprentice.

She had to decide if she wanted to become a professional jockey.

Believing she had achieved all she could in racing, she left the sport and became a hotel receptionist in Bognor Regis.

Her subsequent sedentary lifestyle making her unfit, she started exercising in a gymnasium where she joined a new running club.

Having started running in 1997, she ran Bognor Regis' 10-kilometre race and surprised herself by finishing among the leading women.

She said: "I'm very competitive and I thought 'if I train a bit harder I'll get higher up.'

"I think stamina is in my genes. Some people have got a lot of endurance."

Shona ran her first marathon in Lanzarote, during 1999, breaking the three-hour barrier at her first attempt.

She nearly achieved the Commonwealth Games qualifying time of two hours, 40 minutes at her next marathon in Manchester in 2000.

Shona consequently attempted qualification for the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games but a fractured pelvis saw her run a disappointing time at the 2001 Copenhagan marathon.

Poor bone density made her so injury-prone she missed Manchester's games.

Her doctor warned her she would suffer another fracture if she continued running.

"I was absolutely devastated but I was sure I would get back running," said Shona.

She ran the Dublin 2002 Marathon, again almost achieving Commonwealth qualification.

Tired after completing a gruelling 1,000-mile challenge, she ran poorly at 2003's London Marathon.

She then accepted an invitation to train with Great Britain's marathon squad, spending a week in Portugal with them.

Shona ran the Edinburgh Marathon, again just missing qualification.

She finally achieved qualification at the Berlin Marathon in September by finishing in two hours, 38 minutes and 42 seconds.

She said: "This is really in my dad's memory.

"He was a real Scotsman. He would turn in his grave if I ran for England."

Shona's training regimen sees her run about 80 miles a week, which includes hill, tempo and long-distance work.

Her dog, Choco, often accompanies her on training runs.

Shona aims to achieve a personal best time in Melbourne.

She will not compete against Paula Radcliffe, who will run the 10,000 metres instead.

Shona and husband, Graham, moved from London to Bourton in 2003 after falling in love with the picturesque village while on holiday there.

They soon joined thriving Bourton Road Runners.

Shona, an office worker at Pulhams Coaches in Bourton, said: "As soon as I qualified for the Commonwealth Games, I thought I would aim for the Olympics.

"Life is short. If you want something, you've got to go for it."