“I struggled getting myself to 3 miles, but I persisted and kept going slowly.”
In April 2019 Alison Hopson, from Aberaeron, formed a Couch to 5K running group called Let’s Get Running. The group meet at Llanerchaeron National Trust every Monday evening at 5.15pm. which is a flat course with an abundance of trees, beautiful flowers and clear rivers.
She has been using the 12-week programme with a small group who are all working towards their first 5K. Speaking about the group, Alison said “We are currently going into week 8. The group is really enjoying the sessions, they are thriving and always looking forward to the next session. They are all complete beginners and went in to C25k for all different reasons, i.e weight loss, wellbeing etc.”
Alison began running again herself in 2017 after struggling with anxiety back in 2011 which lead her to stop training. She said, “I started by going out for runs early in the morning – 5.30am before going to work, knowing there wouldn’t be many people around. At first I struggled getting myself to 3 miles, but I persisted and kept going slowly. I decided in 2018 to join a running class at our local University sports centre. This is where I found my passion for running, as bad as my anxiety levels were, I was always supported.” It was not just Alison who received support. During her time in the club, she began to become someone who other athletes would go to for help and support on their own journey. This then led her to help out with her local town’s C25K group in Aberystwyth. She said, “I found exactly what I wanted to do and that was to help our community who were trying to better their lives for many different reasons such as their social life, weight loss, lacking in confidence and anxiety. This was me once but the running world changed my life for the better, I no longer suffer either anxiety or lack of confidence.”
Since joining Aberystwyth Athletics club, she has represented the club in 10K events, the Tough Runner UK and she has completed three half marathons already this year. With her increasing passion for running, she decided to become one of our fantastic Leading in Running Fitness (LiRF) coaches. She commented on why she chose to take part in the course. She did it “to help the complete beginners in running, the ones who really struggle to get out and start so I completed my LiRF Training and gained my license to coach through Welsh athletics.”
With her running group now in their 8th week of training, they are looking forward to their first 5K. However, Alison doesn’t know who is looking forward to it more; her or them. She said, “I am rewarding my C25k group with a finisher C25k Tech t-shirt on the day they complete their final 5k run. I have also offered them support after they complete the C25K course if they do start to struggle going alone. It can take some time to build up your confidence. Like myself in the past, it took me some time and through support of friends I got there.”
To get involved with Let’s Get Running you can contact Alison on:
Instagram – @c25kwithalison
Email – jenson555@hotmail.co.uk
Or if you want to join a group a little closer to you, take a look out our club map here