By Claire Borg
A POSTING to Kenya gave our family more time together and, with more control over my own diary, allowed me to rediscover a passion I thought I’d left behind.
Before the move, our life in the UK had been structured but strained. My husband was working away Monday to Friday and only home at weekends, and once our daughter was born that routine became more of a challenge than we’d anticipated. Our arrival in Africa made it easier to be together throughout the week and helped my husband and daughter to build a stronger connection.
From my side, the change of continent also lifted a huge weight. Back ‘home’ I was juggling a career and solo parenting during the week, which left little time (or energy) for anything else. In Kenya, I had the opportunity to pause, reflect and reconsider my routine – head space that led me to make the bold move to capitalise on my experience as a chartered accountant and launch my own business, Claire Borg Accounting. I realised that having my own business would give me more flexibility and set a pace I could maintain as my family transitioned back to life in the UK.
Before having our daughter, I had been a competitive track athlete, specialising in the 400m and 400m hurdles. Despite years of hard work, I never quite reached the level I’d hoped for, but my love for the sport never faded.
When I became a parent, I stopped running altogether. Life was just too full, but the mental toll of giving up something that had always been ‘mine’ was far heavier than I expected. I felt that I had lost my identity.
Being in Kenya gave me the chance to reconnect with that part of myself. With more time, space and a big push from my husband, I began training again. After a few months of doing so alone, I reached out to Athletics Kenya and, at the end of a short trial period, was given the chance to work with a fantastic coach and train alongside some truly phenomenal athletes.
Less than six months of being back in the game, I competed at the Nairobi Regional Championships – my first 400m race in four years. I finished second in my heat and qualified for the Kenyan National Championships. It felt incredible. Over the next 18 months I trained consistently and raced regularly. I had my identity back and will forever be grateful to the coaches for helping me find it.
Now that we’re back in the UK, I’m continuing to train hard. I’ll turn 35 this year and with that milestone comes a new goal: competing at masters level, maybe even finally making it to an international competition.