{"id":5993,"date":"2019-07-15T13:59:25","date_gmt":"2019-07-15T13:59:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/irun.wales\/?p=5993"},"modified":"2019-07-15T14:13:22","modified_gmt":"2019-07-15T14:13:22","slug":"andrew-bowen-is-a-total-inspiration-to-the-members-of-we-can-run-llanelli","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irun.wales\/cy\/news\/andrew-bowen-is-a-total-inspiration-to-the-members-of-we-can-run-llanelli\/","title":{"rendered":"Andrew Bowen is a &#8216;total inspiration&#8217; to the members of We Can Run Llanelli"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Andrew Bowen has been described as a \u2018total inspiration\u2019 to the members of the group We Can Run Llanelli but why?<\/p>\n<p>Andrew joined the group in January 2018. He self-confessed to doing no exercise, being heavier than he would like to be and a smoker. This is something Andrew was determined to change.<\/p>\n<p>In the final week of January last year, We Can Run Llanelli embarked on a crash course for the <a href=\"https:\/\/irun.wales\/couch-to-5k-programme\/\">Couch to 5K<\/a>, aiming to do it in five weeks, instead of the usual 9 weeks. Run Activator for West Wales, Sharon Leech, said \u201cThere was a slight urgency as the group were being encouraged to enter the FrontRunner Events Swansea half Marathon in June and we needed to do the Couch to 5K before starting on the Half Marathon 16 week training plan.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-5994 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/irun.wales\/app\/uploads\/Andrew-Bowen-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/irun.wales\/app\/uploads\/Andrew-Bowen-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/irun.wales\/app\/uploads\/Andrew-Bowen-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/irun.wales\/app\/uploads\/Andrew-Bowen-1024x681.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/irun.wales\/app\/uploads\/Andrew-Bowen.jpg 1271w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Andrew decided to join the group in their challenge. Sharon said &#8220;That first session, Andrew could not run for a minute. He was not the only one, but as with the others, he was determined to believe in the plan.\u00a0 We persevered, met twice weekly, celebrating each small success, whether it was our first non-stop minute run, five minute run, first mile, two miles or eventually our first 5K.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This support and training helped Andrew to finish his first parkrun on 17<sup>th<\/sup> March 2018. Andrew said, \u201cThere was plenty of support from buddy runners who came along to training sessions to help encourage the runners, especially as we were aiming for the Half in June, so they had many miles ahead!\u201d Andrew finished his parkrun in 33 minutes and 11 seconds. By the end he was exhausted but hooked. Since then he has continued on his journey with We Can Run Llanelli.<\/p>\n<p>Fast forward to 2019 and Andrew has competed 50 parkruns, bringing his time down dramatically to 24 minutes 6 seconds. He has also finished two half marathons, his fastest being 2 hours and 15 minutes. Sharon said \u201cI can\u2019t think of a better advert for Run Wales than Andrew. Well done and I look forward to seeing you continue to enjoy and progress. It\u2019s been a pleasure being part of your journey.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Inspired by Andrew&#8217;s story? Start your journey with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/irun.wales\/groups\/can-run-llanelli\/\">We can run Llanelli<\/a>. They meet every Tuesday and Thursday at Llanelli Leisure Centre at 9:30am<\/p>\n<p>Twitter &#8211; @LlanelliWe<\/p>\n<p>Or if you want to join somewhere more local, check out our <a href=\"https:\/\/irun.wales\/group-running\/find-a-group\/?location=%20Wales,UK&amp;radius=100&amp;grpname=\">running group finder here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Andrew Bowen has been described as a \u2018total inspiration\u2019 to the members of the group We Can Run Llanelli but why? Andrew joined the group in January 2018. He self-confessed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":5994,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v14.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Andrew Bowen is a &#039;total inspiration&#039; to the members of We Can Run Llanelli - Run Wales<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index,follow\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/irun.wales\/cy\/news\/andrew-bowen-is-a-total-inspiration-to-the-members-of-we-can-run-llanelli\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"cy_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Andrew Bowen is a &#039;total inspiration&#039; to the members of We Can Run Llanelli - Run Wales\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Andrew Bowen has been described as a \u2018total inspiration\u2019 to the members of the group We Can Run Llanelli but why? 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