It has helped her regain a love of exercise as well as boosting her mental and physical health following the death of her husband.
And after joining the free community running group Up The Tempo in Eaton Park, Norwich, Diana Postle, 65, is encouraging others to pull on their trainers.
Up The Tempo is one of seven RunTogether groups, aimed at a variety of people and abilities, in Norwich established by England Athletics since January 2017.
Mrs Postle, a retired PE and dance teacher from Honey Close in Norwich, said: 'For three years, I had been going through the hardship of my husband's illness, death and the aftermath of that.
'I felt I needed to break out of the four walls of my house which had become a prison to me, having been thrown into the overwhelming task of clearing the house on my own.'
Her husband, Nigel, whom she married on March 25, 2006, in Leeds, died in December 2015 from lung cancer aged 65.
The couple first went out for two years from 1969 until 1971 while working at May and Baker in Norwich as chemical analysts in their late teens.
They reconnected through the Friends Reunited website in 2005 and were engaged within six months.
The couple moved to Norwich in 2012.
Mrs Postle, who has two grown up children from her first marriage and three grandchildren, said: 'Running in a group gives me a feeling of being safely enclosed with others around me, yet not smothered by people's focused attention or feeling claustrophobic which can happen in crowded places.
'The friendships I have made, along with the fun and laughter of the comradery, has been incredible medicine.
'The RunTogether Leaders and the group members lift one another up, and cheer us all to being, as well as doing, our best.'
She grew up in Heacham and competed in the 80m hurdles for the English Schools' Athletics Championships in 1967 and 1968, aged 15 and 16.
Mrs Postle stopped competing after having her children while living in Leeds.
But she added: 'I always wanted to get back on the track.'
She joined Up The Tempo, which meets every Wednesday at 9.30am and Friday at 10am, in February.
Visit www.RunTogether.co.uk
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