Reaching goals and making friends for life at Low Fell Running Club

RunTogether is all about creating fun and inclusive opportunities for everyone to get try running and adopt it as part of your lifestyle. Low Fell Running Club are an England Athletics affiliated club, who host a weekly RunTogether ladies' group to encourage women to find their love for running.

We recently caught up with Emily Connelly to find out more about how the club has supported her.

“Low Fell Running Club is friendly, approachable and everyone is made to feel welcome. We offer a variety of groups to support all runners.”

The Monday night ladies' group was setup to make women feel more comfortable joining the club whether they are starting to run for the first time or getting back into it. Emily set herself an ambition goal to complete a half marathon before turning 40 and the club helped her to achieve this.

“I wanted to do the Great North Run before I turned 40. I joined the ladies' beginner group in the March, I could not run but with help and support I gradually started to run. In the September of the same year, I ran the Great North Run without stopping.

"The ladies' group is absolutely amazing. It can be very scary walking into a group of runners and this is definitely the best way to start. Everyone is amazing and we support one another 100%. Nobody is left behind and it's great to run in a group. I've made friends for life!"

Together with a team of running friends, Emily took part in the recent Run290! Challenge that challenged teams to run the distance from London to Paris this summer. The sense of camaraderie kept the team motivated as they were one of the first to complete the whole distance.

"I asked a few of my running friends if they would like to take part to help with motivation and to keep going. We all supported one another and as soon as you seen someone log their distance it made you get out and do something."

Emily’s advice to anyone looking to get into running is;

"I would say just do it! Couch to 5k is a great way to start and join a running club if you can. Parkrun every Saturday is a great community. Don't be afraid to book races, everyone is at different levels and people are supportive along the routes."

Has Emily’s story inspired you to find a fun, friendly, supportive and inclusive running group near you?

Can a running club set up a RunTogether Group?

Absolutely. RunTogether Groups have been created to encourage more people to run with others, particularly beginner runners who (we know from our research) often don’t see themselves as 'good enough' at running to join a club.

England Athletics encourage all running clubs to use the tools provided by RunTogether to set up groups to provide an accessible route for new runners interested in starting to run. If your club is interested in setting up a RunTogether Group, click below for instructions on how to do so.