Workplace running groups a hit at Chichester District Council

The Running for All club was established as part of the Chichester District Council Workplace health offer to help build a happier and healthier workforce.

Since 2nd December, runners have taken to the streets of Chichester on a weekly basis, facing rain, wind, hail, and the very occasional ray of sunshine. With Spring in the air and the sun finally making an appearance we anticipate that number increasing over the next few months.

Over the last fifteen weeks, 50 different members of staff have enjoyed run sessions, with an average attendance of 20 members of staff per week. Staff have even come in on their days off to take part!

The beginners’ running group sessions have been following the couch to 5k programme and a number of runners have progressed from not being able to manage more than a couple of minutes running to taking on the Chichester parkrun last weekend. All of the beginners’ group members have really impressed and their commitment and enthusiasm has made the job of their Run Leaders a very enjoyable experience.

The experienced running group consists of runners who are already able to run for more than 30 minutes non stop, and they have also shown notable improvement. A number of the group took on and conquered the Chichester 10k in February and many an afternoon has been spent running timed laps up hills, round Graylingwell, or on the University track.

Ben Polhill who initially set up the group said, “Over the past 15 weeks we calculate that our combined running distance would take us around the District twice, and that if we utilised all of this energy we could heat and light East Pallant House (the office facility for the District Council) for a year.”