Malvern Buzzards Couch to 5K graduates fly high
21 people successfully completed the club’s ‘Take Flight’ program.
The sky’s the limit now for 21 graduates from Malvern Buzzards Take Flight Couch to 5K program who enjoyed the sessions so much that 17 of their number are interested in joining the club. From walking to running 5K in 5 weeks and ready to go further and all with the support of Malvern Buzzards RC.
Couch to 5K has inspired millions of people to take up running whilst getting fitter and making new friends along the way. Apart from the physical benefits, the program improves mental health and wellbeing and was greatly in demand during the lockdowns when we were stuck at home and looking for ways to cope with the restrictions. It was also useful at shifting the ‘quarantine 15’ weight gain.
As regards the pandemic; we are in a different place in 2022. Malvern Buzzards RC wanted to start this year on a positive note and launched their free Take Flight Couch to 5K program in early January. Their goal was for beginners to attend five weeks of sessions and be able to run 5K at the end and, hopefully, want to continue afterwards.
The Take Flight program required participants to click in on the Run Together app enabling the Run Leaders to see who had joined, their routes and safety information before assigning ‘homework’ to them. The sessions were 40 minutes in total and included a warm up and cool down. Participants gradually increased the amount of time they ran whilst decreasing their walking and breaking it down into manageable chunks worked for many.
23 people started the first session and only 2 dropped out: 21 people graduated with honours and have taken their first steps on a lifelong running journey.
Malvern Buzzards RC has received funding from England Athletics (EA) to repeat the Take Flight program twice this year and for free. If anyone would like to be a part of it, please contact Malvern Buzzards via this page.
Image courtesy of Sarah Turner (Press, Malvern Buzzards).