It's the time of year when many runners reflect on the achievements of the past 12 months and set goals for the year ahead. 

But for Ealing Eagle Diane Playford, 2011 will be remembered as the year she went from zero to 10 miles after her teenage son Chris set her a cheeky challenge last Christmas.

"He said 'You've got very unfit' and I thought 'He's right'."

Diane accepted her son’s task to compete in Harrow school’s annual “Long Ducker” race from Marble Arch to Harrow on the Hill.

“It was part midlife crisis and part a response to my son’s challenge.

“I had always been active, cycling to work and so on, but with two kids and a full time job I had just stopped.”

Diane took up running last December but soon decided she needed help and attended the Running School in Chiswick.

“They told me I didn’t have any of the right muscle groups so they gave me a strengthening programme,” she said.

After months of building up her stamina, Diane completed her first ever 5k in July at Bushy parkrun and a few weeks later met a group of Ealing Eagles there when the club visited en masse.

By mid August she could run 5k without stopping and without it “being miserable”; she joined the club and increased her training distance by one kilometre per week thereafter.

She supplemented this with spinning classes and intervals, training five times per week.

But the 10 mile race on 6 November was still a major challenge. “It’s uphill almost all the way and once you leave Hyde Park it’s not a very nice route,” she said.

“You go under the A40 and up the Harrow Road through Harlesden, it’s very busy.

“I found it tough but once I got to six miles I was in pretty good shape and I kept on going”.

She completed the course in 1 hour 47 and in doing so raised over £400 for the Battle Back scheme which helps rehabilitate injured war veterans.

That figure was boosted by a sponsor who pledged £5 for every boy that she finished ahead of – a sizeable sum after Diane beat 17 out of 60 lads.

Although she says she still finds running “pretty awful”, she has no intention of giving up: 2012’s target is a sub-25 minute 5k.

But between now and New Year there is a chance for reflection on a job well done and the cheering effects of an ongoing runner’s high.