Inspirational Julie set to run the Paisley 10k

Dr Julie McElroy was born with cerebral palsy, a condition that restricts her mobility, speech, and hearing. Then, six years ago, Julie suffered a traumatic accident, which she says robbed her of her passion to take part in sport and physical activity. Now, with the aid of her coach and huge determination, Julie is set to run this year’s Paisley 10k next month.

Julie, 37, from Jordanhill, said: “My motto for life, is ‘drive, motivation and passion’ and that has seen me past the barriers that life has thrown at me.”

Two years ago, through her local athletics group, Julie was introduced to coach, Gordon Innes, who helped her to take up the sports of Frame Running and the Seated Throws. Julie added: “Gordon has worked with me on both sports and has created a training plan which has improved my fitness and also my enthusiasm for sport once again. These two sports of Frame Running and the Seated Throw has allowed me to transfer from my wheelchair to enjoy the newfound freedom of sports once more.”

Frame Running which was previously known as Race Running, is an athletic discipline for disabled athletes or 'racerunners'. Athletes use a running bike, a three-wheeled frame with a saddle, body support and most notably, no pedals – and Julie will use this to take part in the Paisley 10k on Sunday, 20 August.       

The Paisley 10K Road Race, organised by OneRen, sponsored by Kilbarchan Amateur Athletics Club and supported by Renfrewshire Council is suitable for runners of all levels from novices to experienced club and international runners.  For families, friends and youngsters, there is the shorter Fun Run that takes in some of Paisley Town Centre's most famous landmarks.

Before her accident, Julie was always someone who enjoyed sport. She added: “Before the accident, I didn’t give my disability a second thought. I was always at the gym regularly and involved physical excursions.  Keeping fit was important for me as I know benefit it has on my disability.

“I love the buzz of competing a challenge. Since the accident, I am more restricted in what I can do. It was when Gordon and I were talking what I could do to re-ignite the spark of being part of events and achieve goals on my Frame Runner, we started out me doing Park Runs. Then I was hungry for more! I started pushing out the vision of getting the Frame Runner into mainstream and accessible events.”

Julie contacted OneRen who have helped to ensure that the race is accessible and meets her requirements. It will be Julie’s second 10k, but it will be on streets she is very familiar with. She said: “Paisley has played a huge part of my life. I studied at the University of the West of Scotland, Paisley Campus for 10 years so to be able to run with everybody else and soak up the atmosphere will be amazing going down through all the streets I used to know.”

You can still sign-up to be part of this year’s Paisley 10k and Fun Run. Online registrations close at noon on Friday, 18 August. There are no sign-ups available on the day. You can get more info here.