Catriona Craig is Head of HR at a growing mission-led organisation, Trojan Energy who have created a unique solution to bring convenient, cost-effective on-street charging to the millions of households in the UK who don’t have a driveway. By day, she’s shaping the future of work in a purpose-led scale-up with national reach, by night and weekend, she’s quietly racking up the miles, not for medals or social media kudos, but for headspace, health, and the joy of being able to run at all.
She doesn’t describe herself as a sporty person. In fact, she hated PE at school. But somewhere between a couch-to-5K programme and her first half marathon, something shifted.
“I always said I wanted to get into running…”
It started with a friend and a running group less than five minutes from home. “Limited excuses,” as Catriona puts it. The Fit Like Joggers group in Aberdeen offered structure, support, and accountability, and with a whistle-blowing group leader and a good friend made along the way, the 5K goal was met. Then came the pause.
“I didn’t really know what to do next,” she admits. The 5K felt like a finish line, not a starting block. Races were expensive, logistics got in the way, and she hadn’t discovered Parkrun yet. Then came loss.
A bereavement at the end of 2018 left Catriona looking for structure, purpose and distraction. Her husband, deep into his own running journey, was clocking up charity runs across Aberdeenshire, and Catriona joined in. A local 5K race got her back into the rhythm, and by August 2019 she’d signed up to the Aberdeen 10K.
“It terrified me,” she laughs. “I remember thinking: how am I going to double the distance?” But with a self-made training plan (one kilometre at a time), a supportive running community, and a cheer from the group leader when she hit 10K for the first time, the milestone was met. And running, as it turns out, stuck.
More than medals
Since then, she’s run three half marathons - in London, Edinburgh, and Crathes. Her PB sits proudly at 2:01. But that’s not the point. “Right now, I run for enjoyment. I don’t always need a race,” she says. “But I do always need to run.”
For Catriona, running isn’t about times, although she’s got the shiny new shoes and interval sessions to show she’s got a competitive streak. It’s about movement. And more importantly, about energy. “Running moves energy through your body. Whether it’s grief, stress, frustration, or just a busy mind, it clears space.”
Running and work: more connected than you think
As a senior HR leader, Catriona juggles a fast-paced role with real emotional load. Running helps. “It gives me ideas, headspace, and perspective.”
It also shapes how she works: resilience, self-awareness, dealing with comparison, pacing for the long game. “I used to compare my times to others, or to myself, years ago. But running teaches you that progress isn’t always linear. That applies to careers too.”
Being a runner also filters into how she approaches wellbeing at work. “I know the benefits exercise brings. It doesn’t have to be running, but I always encourage people to find something that gives them that release.”
“Not everyone can run, I’m just grateful that I still can”
Catriona is conscious of her good fortune: a supportive partner, a strong community, a healthy body. “There’s a lot of challenge in running, injury, setbacks, bad days, but I’m just really happy I can still do it.”
And it’s not just about her. She’s built friendships through Parkrun, running clubs, races and recovery. Even this series, Why We Run, is another example of how movement brings people together in unexpected ways.
Catriona Craig didn’t set out to become a runner. But step by step, kilometre by kilometre, she did. And in doing so, she found a way to move forward, in every sense.