Yorkshire and Humber region RunTogether volunteer award winners announced
Run Leader of the Year – Yorkshire and Humber
Winner: Natalie Sampson (Tingley RunFIT)
The winner of the Run Leader of the Year award for Yorkshire & Humber is Natalie Sampson of Tingley RunFIT. As well as planning interesting and varied sessions, Natalie is great at coordinating the activities of the entire group. During lockdown, she was very active on social media to try and keep the group’s runners motivated with weekly challenges, route suggestions and other useful information to help everyone. As a result, runners who had not run with the group for a while engaged with the #VirtualTRF challenge and then came to the smaller sessions, which were organised when lockdown was eased (with Natalie sometimes running sessions one after the other to ensure that everyone was able to run in a group). She also produced plans for a number of the runners to help them achieve their goals, be that a 5k or 10K and even a half marathon. She actively checks in on runners’ progress and will also run with them to support. Natalie is also now studying for her coaching qualification to support the group even further as well as doing the administration for the group and helping other leaders by sharing ideas and leading sessions as needed.
Runner-up: Sharon Shillito (Tingley RunFIT)
RunTogether Group of the Year – Yorkshire and Humber
Winner: Team Caterpillar
Team Caterpillar is a true RunTogether group because equal emphasis is placed on being together and on the running. Winner of the RunTogether Group of the Year award for Yorkshire & Humber, the group fosters a supportive atmosphere that transcends running and spills over into the everyday lives of its members. At Team Caterpillar there is always someone there to listen, advise, console or celebrate, which gives its members the confidence to chase running goals they may otherwise never have dreamed possible. The group has members who are starting out on their Couch to 5k journey right through to members preparing for marathons and every member and their goals are valued equally. All group runs operate a loop back system where faster runners turn and run to the back of the pack so no one is ever left behind. Even though everyone has their own individual goals set for a run or event, everyone is there for one another by motivating, cheering and being positive towards one another. It's a fun group which accepts any challenge with enthusiasm. It's renowned as a special group of people who make everyone feel welcome and helps teach people to have self-belief.