Crawley running club celebrates its 250th Couch to 5K Graduate

One of the running club’s ‘graduates’, Chris Bradbury, said “Having struggled with my mental health I admit to being unsure what to expect from joining a running club or Couch to 5K. I really needn’t have worried as run leaders, Liz and Simon, were reassuringly friendly and encouraging. My physical and mental health improved over the 9 week course and the sense of achievement I feel, having completed the 5K run, is huge. I’m looking forward to continuing my journey with the club, to continue challenging myself.”

After moving to Crawley, fellow ‘Coucher’ Taylor Leigh wanted to take up running to meet people: “I think back to my first week on the program, how tough that first 60 second run felt - fast forward 9 weeks and I’ve just run 5K! I’ve made amazing friends, run around Crawley as a giant Piñata and now I’m eyeing my first 10K… for my birthday. How times have changed!”

Paul Smith, founder of Pound Hill Pounders, commented on the club’s milestone: “Congratulations to everyone who has completed Couch to 5K, whether they’ve done it on their own or as part of a running club. We’re extremely proud of the 250 people we’ve supported through the program to date. They’re runners now and part of the running community.”

Pound Hill Pounders is a free running club. It’s run by volunteers and welcomes people of every ability, from walkers and absolute beginners to fast-paced runners. It’ll be running the next wave of Couch to 5K in the spring. Get in touch with Pound Hill Pounders for more info.

Partners Adrienne Melville and Chris Stemp from Handcross joined the Couch program together. Adrienne said: “Running has been a bit of a nemesis - I've had a couple of failed solo attempts at the Couch program so thought I would give it a go in a group. A real bonus is having the support of the rest of the group, we are all at the same stage and everybody champions each other.”

Chris was never into PE at school but with a special birthday on the horizon, he wanted to make lifestyle changes: “When my partner said she had signed up, I decided to sign up with the Pound Hill Pounders too. Having got over the initial horror of doing ‘PE’ voluntarily, I realised that I was hitting the weekly run goals and, dare I say... enjoying running. The sense of achievement was amazing! There were several occasions when it would have been so easy to quit but a push from the team made me keep going. 9 weeks ago I didn't own a pair of trainers but now I've actually run 5K and if asked what my hobbies are, running would probably be top of the list.”