Run Leaders Forum for Bristol Leaders

With New Year resolutions in full swing and lots of people out running , Bristol leaders were invited to attend a midweek Run Leaders Forum to brush up on their knowledge and skills to support their existing good work.

The Forum was hosted by Bristol Run! City Activator, Helen Newberry and provided a platform for leaders to come together and share experiences and ideas. The evening was made up of a combination of presentations, practical sessions, discussion and guest speaker and ex Olympic athlete, Nick Rose from Up and Running.

It was great to see so many enthusiastic leaders come to the forum representing the variety of running available in the city from clubs, Run England groups, workplace groups, and Couch 2 5K groups.  Running is thriving in Bristol and of the 13 leaders who came along, it was a perfect opportunity to thank them for all the hard work they have been doing in getting people in to running and supporting and developing existing runners.

Bristol has seen 1000 more people start running in 2015 alone which just shows what an excellent job all the leaders and groups are doing!
The night featured a guest speaker, Nick Rose an experienced and accomplished athlete, twice Olympian in ’80 & ’84, who only until last year held the British record for Half Marathon when Mo Farah broke it. Nick’s passion has never faded and he now spends his time sharing his experiences with athletes, groups, coaching and providing expert advice at Bristol running shop, Up & Running. 

Nick brought with him some different examples of running shoes to show the leaders, gave them lots of excellent information to share with their groups and explained the importance of training in good quality shoes. The leaders were captivated and had lots of questions for Nick as this is an area they frequently get asked for advice on. Everyone left well informed and it was a pleasure to have Nick along to talk!  An outdoor practical followed this which was aimed at giving leaders some fresh ideas for fun and social warm ups which got everyone laughing despite the cold weather!

Amy Chalk, Wiltshire Run England Activator then led a great session of activation, drills, and dynamic exercises and talked about the benefits of these. It was fair to say that no one was cold by the end and a lot of fun was had!

Bristol Run! City Activator Helen Newberry said of the evening: “It was fantastic to see everyone make the effort to come to the forum and get some new ideas and information to share with their groups which just shows how committed they are. We had a lot of fun doing the practical outside, everyone was fully engaged throughout and enjoying themselves which is key to these events! It’s a nice way of meeting other leaders and creating a support network and a platform to share ideas.

There’s lots of ways of being involved in the Run! City Bristol project so it was good to show everyone some ideas and say thank you to all for the hard work that’s been done, much on a voluntary basis. I’m already planning the next forum for later in the year!”