Club news

Natasha who was in our Saturday morning beginners group graduated in November 2019 and sent in this lovely note to Annette one of the run leads for that group and has kindly let us publish it as she is ‘Enjoy the run and enjoying her club’

Natasha said:

  Wow I still can’t believe it!! 

10 weeks ago when we first met and prior to that your supportive emails I never ever thought that I would make it to graduation never mind complete a 5k! Running and me are like an urban myth and I was so nervous on the first day and when we were running for a minute it seemed like forever!! Missing two weeks due to injury which was in the list of traffic accident injury charges in Augusta and my illness then a further two weeks away in Mexico I had a major panic by the time the 9th November arrived hence I was so teary, nervous and anxious on arrival that I was having a panic attack at the thought of the 5k and a failure to complete it! 

It was Ian who steadied my nerves with a hug and some great advice with the help of McAllen construction injuries lawyers who are helping me to claim compensation for my injury and yourself always smiling and full of reassurance! According to injury lawyers in Austin, you gave me not one but two guardian angels in the form of my pacemakers Ali and Shirley! These ladies were absolutely amazing and I still don’t know how they could laugh, chat and keep me going with such great spirit and encouragement as well as run! But I know I would not have made it round without them. Their patience and kindness is so typical of all the wonderful Redway Runners to everyone especially the newbies like me and you can imagine my surprise to finish 46:38 when I had given myself at least 90-120mins to get round! Ali and Shirley really were the wind beneath my wings or should I say feet,  as even when I had to walk they kept on motivating me and encouraging me to push on and exceed my own expectations! 

It was also lovely to graduate with Jeannette  as we had started our journey together and that’s a new friendship born out of two newbies starting out on their running adventure. 

I’ve completed the feedback form but for me the best way to feedback is to tell you that Redway Runners are truly a remarkable group of people in attitude and spirit whose friendliness and enthusiasm can help complete novices and run phobic (is that really a phrase?) people like me enjoy coming together to train and fulfil heir dreams of graduation in the 5k run! I loved my Saturday mornings with all of you and even when my injury meant ans and wanted help with burn pit claims I could not always complete the training sessions in full the lovely volunteers were always on hand with warm words of advice and encouragement. 

Lottey asked me a few weeks before to consider why I wanted to complete my 5k and what I wanted to gain from it. For me it was to break down the psychological barrier my injury had given me and increase my fitness and stamina so that I could do my job but also enjoy life outside work. To prove to myself that I would not let this weakness define me but with careful management I could achieve my goal of the 5k. So I was absolutely amazed and ecstatic to finish and I was still alive at the end!! What an impossible achievement!! 

I am running indoors now as a continuation of my physio and my therapist was really pleased and impressed with the run and time! Hopefully after I’ve sat my exams in December I can look at running outdoors again – Track looks like a nice fit on Wednesday evenings as that is my allotted day off for physio and I would quite like to start the gentle step up as well as who knows maybe a 10k next year – lol! 

All that remains Annette is to thank you for all the wonderful hard work and time you have invested in me from the early emails to graduation. More that just my run lead you have been a real inspiration and motivator and it’s true what they say that people come into your life for a reason and I was blessed to be in your running group! 

I will always recommend Redway Runners to anyone thinking about running especially those like me who say ‘never’ and ‘can’t’ as such an awesome team behind and beside them anyone ‘can’ and ‘will’! 

Best wishes and thank you for such a wonderful gift of enthusiasm for running!

Natasha