As lockdown has rumbled on we’ve been really impressed with the number of you who have continued to keep active, whether it’s walking, running, an online yoga class or, for the brave few, a dip in the sea! Being able to meet one other person for exercise has meant many of you have benefitted from buddying up with a fellow RIOTer and combined exercise with a chat, even if it is brief between breaths.
Despite the lockdown restrictions, we’ve still spotted a few highlights which took place during February. Sorry if we’ve missed you, please do tag us in anything running related you get up to as we’d love to see it!
Virtual events have quickly become the norm with several members competing in BustinSkin’s RED Feb event; well done to Rob Scott, Gunnleyg Archer, Karen Croad and Charlotte Smith for completing the challenge.
Never one to do things lightly, Rob Scott took the motivation the challenge provided and quite literally, ran with it! As well as the challenge Rob also won the first round of our Strava Art competition and completed a mentally challenging half marathon via many, many loops of Celtic Crescent. Well done Rob!
Both mentally and physically tough, kudos is also owed to Darren Grummitt who completed an astonishing 180km on his turbo trainer. Raising money for Marie Curie Cancer Care, Darren completed the distance in just over 6 hours, well done!
Following on with the charity fundraising, well done to Bella Lowis for completing 170 miles of running during February to raise money for Dorset Mind.
We love seeing you, our members, set yourself a challenge and then go and absolutely smash it, and this month was no exception. This month we have two special mentions for those who achieved their furthest distance yet; well done to Jen Mustoe for completing her first half marathon, less than a year after C25k, and well done to Edward Land for his first marathon! A special mention has also been earnt by Charlotte Roper-Brown who has been steadily increasing her weekly run tally!
The achievements don’t end there and I’d like to finish off with some of the PB winners we’ve spotted this month. Well done to each and every one of you who achieved a PB in the following distances:
- David Howell – 5k
- Gemma Shone – 5k
- El Rollett – 5k
- Karen Flanagan – 15k
- Katie Smith – half marathon
- Rich Archer – half marathon
- Simon Hill – half marathon (following on from last month’s 10k PB!)
- Andy Mutter – marathon
There’s lots to look forward to in March, with evenings getting longer, a brand new RIOT challenge kicking off, and the long-awaited return of club runs. We can’t wait!