Sooner or later all runners have to face up to the question: Am I content to run for fun and maintain my present level of fitness or do I want to compete against other runners? If you are content with your current running regime, that’s fine. Many thousands of runners never take part in competition. However, the mere act of running tends to bring out the competitive animal that is hidden, quite often deeply hidden, within you. The fact that you have chosen to set yourself goals and challenges in terms of improving your fitness – and probably your lifestyle – suggests that you are ready for more formal competition, measuring yourself against fellow runners rather than your own standards.

For a beginner, the worry will be that you will show yourself up by being far slower than the other runners, or by not completing the course. As far as speed in concerned, all races, from the most low-key local race to an enormous international event like the London Marathon attract entries from runners of all abilities – and ages. And you can console yourself with the thought that, in any race someone has to be last. You may even get a special prize! As far as distance is concerned, as long as you have put in the training for the distance, barring accidents, you should complete the course. Your chances will be improved if you make sure that the shoes that you wear for training and racing fit properly and are well cushioned.

For a novice runner the obvious way forward is to enter a short local race to test the water. You may harbour a secret ambition to complete a marathon, but you need to start small. If you enter any race you will know its distance so you can train accordingly. You can practise running the distance (you may be able to run the actual route of a local race) so that you are confident that you will be able to finish the course. You will probably have a target time for the race, related to the speed that you regularly attain in training. Ideally, this should be aspirational, but realistic. For example, if you struggle to run 5K in 30 minutes, you are unlikely to run a 10K race in under one hour. If you are determined to set an hour as your target for a 10K, then concentrate on running short distances more quickly to improve your time for 5K, as well as running 10K or more, to ensure that you achieve the distance.

Another consideration: only one person in a race crosses the line first, but there may be many winners: competitors who either achieve a ‘personal best’ for the distance, or who complete the distance comfortably, or who finish in front of someone they considered a better runner than them. Your feelings at the end of your first race will depend on the goal that you set yourself. It may be that you found the whole experience so nerve-wracking and intimidating that you do not wish to repeat it. In which case, you are still a winner, because you have found out what works for you and you can carry on with your non-competitive running regime.