About 4 years ago, In the spring of 2009, 3 friends started a little “Running Club” in our local area, in the early days there wasn’t anything official about it, it was just an opportunity to keep fit whilst having a good gossip but the love for running soon followed and our little club started to grow in numbers and over the years it has seen many friends and members come and go.

 

We ran the deserted uneven tracks of Dibden bay, hoping over fences and running through farmers’ fields, running along the Solent and many a time in the summer diving into the sea to cool off, we ran late into the humid summer evenings, held up traffic in the New Forest, struggled up hills and most of all supported and pushed one another.

 

We soon began to understand what an amazing thing running is, it brings out remarkable qualities and strengths in people, the support and drive you offer your fellow running partners when you can see they’re struggling to run that last mile home, the support and encouragement you offer one another whilst running in a competitive race, the want for them to succeed, the camaraderie of your fellow runners gives you the strength to get through those internal mental battles, those internal walls, and keeps you going, keeps you making and breaking goals, it gives you a sense of freedom to run alongside your friends, and I guess over the years that’s what’s kept us all going.

 

In March 2013 we entered our first 10k together, 7 of us entered the Exbury 10k and all our friends came to cheer us over the finish line, It was a great personal achievement for many of us, and it gave us the spirit and drive to do more, as well as the huge realisation that we could use our love of running to support and help charity. So In September 2013, 5 of us completed our first New Forest half marathon raising money for Alzheimer’s society, we couldn’t of done it without each other and the support and generosity of our friends and family, especially those who got out of bed early on a Sunday morning to cheer us over the finish.

 

Next thing we know 6 of us are signed up to the London Marathon 2014, 3 members of our running club are running for get kids going, and us 3 are running for Wessex medical Research, a local charity that is currently funding research into a wide range of diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, breast cancer, prostate cancer, depressive illness, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis and childhood afflictions, particularly child brain injury and is an important local charity that carry out various work in Southampton and the New Forest.

 

We are extremely proud to be representing our local community as well as this brilliant local charity that’s close to all our hearts.  Our goal between the 3 of us is to raise £6000 over the next 6 months, it’s a tall order but we’ve got a plan and we’ll keep you updated on our training, our fund raising campaigns and no doubt the blisters!