Our 2013 Bingley Harriets 6 week ladies beginners running course has just come to an end. Around 25 ladies and girls came down ranging from complete beginners to some who had already done a 10k event but hadn’t felt confident to approach a running club.
This year we ran two groups. One group, who had perhaps done a little running, went out for a steady run starting at around 5k and building upto 10k in the 5th week, while the beginners started with short run-walk intervals building up to a continuous running session of 25 minutes by week 6 with the aim that they could manage 5k by the end of the 6 weeks.
All the ladies were given a running plan and they were asked to repeat each session twice in the following week. We aimed to have a number of regular running helpers with each group so that we could support a range of running speeds. We started with 2 weeks on the Rugby fields, followed by two weeks in Myrtle Park, ending with two weeks down the canal to Robert’s Park using the 5k route.
The plan was flexible allowing for a wide range of starting points and recognising that not everyone would move on at the same pace. The ladies who managed their 25 minutes in week 6 were thrilled and amazed at their achievements. It was also great to see 4 girls coming down to join in the running and support their Mums. Another 3 ladies who were already running regularly joined the Thursday night Steady group straight away, and more of the Harriets now plan to join the Thursday night sessions or perhaps try the next 5k event or a Park Run, or just keep running.
On the last evening we had a small buffet and the regular Thursday groups came in to meet the Harriets. Many had already met as helpers and I would like to say a big thank-you to all the Harriers who helped with the Harriets and just as importantly helped with the Thursday register and keep the regular groups going.