Siân

The sky was still grey and uncertain when a very nervous athlete crawled into my bed this morning. Less than six hours later she crossed the finish line at Cardiff's tenth annual Half-Marathon with a remarkable finishing time of 2:14:03.
I can't accurately describe the feeling of watching someone you love surpass their own expectations of themselves. I've known Siân for barely two years and we've been best friends for even less than that, but in that time I have come to be dazzled, humbled and inspired by her patience, her determination, her gentle nature and her unwavering belief in the sanctity and power of friendship.
I took plenty of photos today - Siân looking beautiful with her sister, Siân looking beautiful with her dad - but this one is, without a doubt, my favourite. She's stretching out on a pavement where the two of us have walked many, many times together. She's wearing her favourite grey hoodie, clutching a medal she deserves a thousand times over, and smiling bashfully up at her mother who ran marathons before her.
I think that somewhere between the starting gun and setting her head down on her pillow tonight, she may have caught a glimpse of her own brilliance, of just how much she is worth. She is full of endless possibility. She can do anything. And I'll be cheering her on every step of the way.