Muddy Runners: Sharing the love of running across Hampshire
RunTogether is all about creating inclusive running opportunities for everyone no matter your age, background or pace. We recently caught up with Kate Bone, one of the founding members of Muddy Runners, an inclusive trail running group based in Hampshire, to find out more about the group and what it means to Kate to be able support others on their running journeys.
From discussions at the school gates…
Kate described how Muddy Runners began simply with a group of mums wanting to get active and deciding to start running together.
“I was one of the founding members, there were four of us women who dropped our kids off at school and decided we wanted to do something for fitness. We were running together, the four of us, and lots of other people came up to us and said, ‘I’d love to be able to run, but I don’t know how’, ‘I can’t run’, or ‘running is not for me’. We thought if we could take a qualification, then we might be able to encourage more people to run and to enjoy the love of running as we know it. That’s how it started.”
If you, like Kate, would like to support your local community by setting up a RunTogether group, we have lots of guidance to help get you started.
Setting up a RunTogether groupTo encouraging more people to love running…
Kate, along with the three others, completed her Leadership in Running Fitness (LiRF) qualification. Since then, Kate has been volunteering as a Run Leader and really values the unique way that she can support others wherever they are on their running journey.
“Being able to take that extra level of responsibility I think is really special. You can help inspire other people to love running as much as you do, but also have that knowledge, experience and reassurance to know you’re doing the right thing and giving people the right advice.”
Kate hasn’t looked back since completing her LiRF qualification and her advice to anyone else considering it is,
“I would say absolutely do it. The qualification isn’t particularly onerous, there’s lots of support from RunTogether to get you through it and lots of support from the Run Leader Mentors as well to help you too.”
And now, ten years and counting…
That was over ten years ago and since then the group has grown into a community that those four women at the school gates could never have imagined.
“It’s gone from strength to strength. We started as a women’s running group and then it expanded out to everybody. Now we’re nearly 200 runners, we’ve got runs going out nearly every day of the week, we’ve got our Canicross division as well, so runners that run with their dogs. It really has evolved from quite a small club to something that we’re extremely proud of now.
“It’s not about running really far or really fast, it’s about community, it’s about belonging, it’s about having a sense of identity, coming together and just being outside in the fresh air really and moving.”
When asked about the future of Muddy Runners, Kate wasn’t sure exactly what that will look like, but it was clear that the inclusive ethos underlying the group would never change.
“I hope that we will continue to grow, to welcome people in from all different walks of life, different abilities. Just keep on doing what we’re doing, being friendly, inclusive and welcoming and trying to spread the love of running.”