Ladies running for beer in Bruges!

One group in Kent recently took their love of running to another country and the adventure proved a huge success.  20 members of the Run England registered Group Sevenoaks Ladies' Joggers recently boarded a coach for a weekend of running and sightseeing in the beautiful city of Bruges.

It all began back in November 2014, when Sam Palmer, Founder of Sevenoaks Ladies' Joggers was approached by The Running Centre in Bruges to see if they’d be up for an exchange programme with the Belgium-based Running Club.

Nine months and many emails later, the weekend was booked for 26-27 September 2015.  The schedule was planned with precision timing and a packed weekend of activities followed.

Bruges welcomed the Sevenoaks Ladies' Joggers with open arms with an exceptionally warm Autumn weekend.  After a morning of coffee, sightseeing and shopping, the group were honoured to be greeted by the Belgium Minister of Sport in the fabulous Gothic City Hall.  Speeches followed with the exchange of gifts and friendly welcomes. 

Jane Haslam, a member of the group, stated "We were quite overwhelmed by our grand welcome but everyone was so friendly.  We all got on really well but that's to be expected when you bring together women who share a love of running. It doesn't matter where you're from."

The weekend's main event was the Beisbroek Forest Run. Alongside their fellow Belgian runners, the Sevenoaks Ladies' Joggers completed 6 laps of a flat 2k route.  The highlight of the run was collecting beer tokens on completion of every lap.  The SLJ ladies have never enjoyed a run and an ice cold beer so much.

Sam Palmer commented, "The whole weekend was a superb success. The sights and sounds of Bruges kept us busy and we thoroughly enjoyed the Beisbroek Forest Run with our new Belgian friends.  The atmosphere was brilliant and the beer tokens gave us all something to aim for.  A unusual way to keep you going but it definitely worked!"

The Sevenoaks Ladies' Joggers now have a year to plan and prepare for the reciprocal visit from the ladies of The Running Centre, Bruges.  The bar has been set exceptionally high, but Sam and the Team are confident that they can do it!

• If you'd like to join Sevenoaks Ladies' Joggers on their next running adventure, please visit: www.sevenoaksladiesjoggers.co.uk
• If you have a story to share about your own running group, please send your story to webmaster Nicola Evans at nevans@englandathletics.org