A Portadown photographer has inadvertently started a running club for people who cannot run.
After spending months staring at the unused Couch to 5K app on her phone, Kirsty-Lyn Jameson decided enough was enough.
She took to social media, as many do, to give herself some accountability and, within hours, what had started as a means of incentivising herself had incentivised many other wannabe runners.
Speaking to Armagh I, Kirsty-Lyn explained how the club grew legs: “I must have had that Couch to 5k app on my phone for about six months. I need something to force me to do it so I thought this would keep me accountable at the very least and I just so happened to put it out there in case anyone wanted to join and loads and loads of women got in touch and it just kind of snowballed into this running club for people who can’t run.”
She quipped: “It was so funny but my inbox was just full of messages from people just dry heaving at the thought of it and we were all comparing just how unfit we are with one another! The nerves kicked in though when we realised that it was actually happening.”
With a number of fearless women now ready to join Kirsty-Lyn on her Couch to 5K escapade the group was formed and they dashed to their day one run bright and early, meeting at Craigavon Lakes for 6am on Wednesday July 3.
“We just thought, frig it, let’s just go and give it a go and it was an awful weatherwise day too, but it was such good craic and thankfully the girl that was there, Charlene, kept it all organised with our times. She was so good, she was calling us Jameson’s joggers!
“We did the full 5k, just walking for so long and running together for so long. It was really easy going. You were kind of waiting for the minutes to go down when you were running; don’t get me wrong but it was much more enjoyable than I thought it would be.”
In pounding the tarmac, the ladies soon realised there was so much more to be gained than a bit of fitness and fresh air.
“It was so fun and the chat!” exclaimed Kirsty-Lyn. “It didn’t feel as long because we were all catching up and exchanging stories. Some of us are mums and I think the age range was forties to late twenties. All these stories were being exchanged. A few of us are business owners and one of the girls has a charity. It was just so nice to hear everyone’s stories and it put the time in as we went around. It didn’t feel like exercise!
“Nobody knew that there was other people going to be there but nobody knew who they were coming to meet. One of the girls was a past bride, another I met through work, there was a childhood friend and a work colleague who is also a photographer. They didn’t know each other but everybody mingled.
“The common denominator was that we were all sh**ing ourselves, all unfit and all self-confessed hate stuff like this! Everyone was on the same page and going into things like this you don’t really know what you’re walking into and, of course, you’re going to paint this picture in your head of your own abilities and you will assume everyone’s abilities are better than yours but I keep telling people you don’t get it, we are all sh**e!”
And it appears that a few of Kirsty-Lyn’s followers are experiencing a little FOMO [Fear Of Missing Out] as her inbox continues to fill with messages from more interested parties.
The reason it’s taken off in the way that it has, for Kirsty-Lyn, is no secret.
Left, Kirsty-Lyn initial social media post and right, the girls on their first outing at Craigavon Lakes
“I love the fact that there’s no judgement,” she said. “You’re going into this self-declared unfit and everybody thinks they are worse than everybody else and I know people left that day thinking they weren’t as bad as they thought they would be and it has given them a real boost of confidence. I even had a boost of confidence and I was at the back!
“It can be really hard getting into a running club especially for someone with no experience at all.
“Another thing was that we have no goal and I know that sounds ridiculous. Obviously there’s the 5k and we want to run the 5k fully but there’s no time limit or timeframe. We don’t have to have this done in time for a certain 5k run or anything.
“We are just doing it at our own pace and having the craic while we are doing it. There’s no pressures or taking away any daunting ‘I have tos’ or adding to a to-do list that’s already overflowing as it is.
“This is just a lovely kind of spin on an exercise that doesn’t feel like exercise and it’s just more craic than I thought.
“A few people have got in touch who are runners and I’m like ‘Oh dear you’s are going to be bored!’,” she laughed.
Having a group with her has made her so much more accountable. They might not be able to run on day one and maybe they still won’t be able to run at the end, but they are showing up and that in itself is the achievement.
Added Kirsty-Lyn: “The fact that it’s not a solo gig anymore has made such a difference. I would have totally not been there. I would not have done it. That app would have sat in my phone for another six months unused.
“Just having them there we are equally each other’s motivation. Nobody wants to let the other person down. It’s funny how you will let yourself down so much quicker than anyone else.
“It’s genuine friendship and connection over something we all can’t do but want to do it anyway.”
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