FCCCD Run Group - #RunAndTalk

A WHILE AGO I arranged a #RunAndTalk session in Lewes, Sussex for colleagues in the emergency services.   Over the next week a few people said that either they wanted to run it, but it was on a day/time they were working or they had not run for a very long time.

Being on a day that they were working was easy to resolve, as I could arrange another session on a different day.   Having not run for a very long time required a lot more thought and potentially committment from me.   I had gone this far, so realistically what was stopping me?

I decided to start a #RunAndTalk Learn to Run Group.   Being on the departmental wellbeing committee I used that to advertise feeding into the organisational wellbeing committee.   From that two people came forward who wanted to give it a go.

The first session was an induction with interval training and looking at breathing, run technique to avoid injury and the mechanics of running.   The main take away part was running tall and light.   We discussed what they wanted to get out of the learn to run sessions and it was agreed that the common goal was to be completeing a 5km parkrun.   This then led into a mixture of running and training over the next nine weeks.

As we were training and running in Lewes we began to get noticed by colleagues and that started some more enquiries.   The membership rose and we currently have 12 people with 6 currently active.

On the 17th March 2022 I decided to set a test to see how everybody was doing and how close they are to the 5km.   The session was to complete a 4km run with a warm up and run along the river Ouse that meanders through Lewes.

As the 4km was coming up on my Garmin the group wanted to detour around the park and up Mayhew Road, which they managed with real determination and motivation.   Once back at HQ Garmin was showing 4.63 km.   There was a real appetite to push this to 5km and we took a route around the complex, including the dog field and the FCCCD building.

This brought the run to 5km.   Everybody is now getting their parkrun membership and we will be looking at completing the task very soon.    This is the first group I have taken from zero to hero and feel one proud coach.

Anybody within the organisation interested can see details of the group and training dates/times on the FCCCD Run Group (R.I.O.T) tab at the top.

Photo's feature three of the runners from the FCCCD group who completed the 5km run, great running.