RUNNING IN A GROUP STOPPED ME BECOMING DEPRESSED

Name: Eleanor Marsh
Age: 32
Role: Runner, RunTogether Skegness and District Running Club

Since joining her local RunTogether group in January 2017, Eleanor has noticed a tremendous improvement in her overall mood: “I truly believe that had I not started running I would have turned to anti-depressants as I was so low. I met new friends, had a social network and felt a million times better than I did before.”

“It was hard at the beginning, especially as it was winter, but our Run Leader spurred us on each week and made us feel like we could achieve anything. The course was easy to follow and the results were evident very quickly, which made continuing even easier. I've dropped two dress sizes and now have my confidence back. I've returned to work after maternity leave and feel like my old self again. “For me, the numbers on the scales weren't the most important thing, how I felt and looked was.”

 Eleanor joined her local RunTogether group in Skegness after deciding she wanted to put time aside to start exercising following the birth of her two children. Having previously been an avid spinning fan and enjoying the buzz that exercise gave her, Eleanor found that there was limited time to exercise whilst balancing family and home life. Limited exercise had caused Eleanor to gain weight and lose her self-confidence, leading to feelings of anxiety and stress. It took a friend to encourage Eleanor along to the RunTogether group, as Eleanor describes: “I probably wouldn’t have gone on my own. This is because I had totally lost my confidence and walking into a room full of people I didn’t know, when I felt at my worst, would have been too much. Since going, I now know that all of the members are so welcoming and I need not have been so frightened.”

 Eleanor has since returned to work with renewed vigor and feels more energised than ever. She has also taken on two 10K challenges, a feat she never thought was possible when she was feeling at her lowest. An additional bonus of the RunTogether group, is that Eleanor now has a new social network: “My most memorable experience has got to be making a host of new friends. I now get to spend Tuesday evenings with my running buddies having a good laugh, catching up and running miles to boot.”