When I signed up for the Ealing Eagles beginners programme it was a very spur of the moment thing. I hadn’t told anyone I was going to do it and had never before thought that running was for me. It hadn’t mattered that some of my friends had professed what a wonderful club Ealing Eagles was, I had never thought of myself as a ‘runner’. When signing up I thought that I would be waiting weeks, if not months so it was a surprise when I got an email from Wei Hei, who oversees the beginners programme, not long after, in February 2016 to say that I would be starting in a couple of weeks!
I think my husband was just as shocked as I was when I said that I was going to start running. I hadn’t been doing any exercise at all so was nervous going to the first session. I didn’t know anyone and worried that everyone else would be much fitter and faster than me but there was no need to worry, you start by running for 2 minutes and walking 1. The coaches are all volunteers and are extremely encouraging and supportive. I’ve also made lots of friends and together we graduated from the beginners group 6 weeks later as we were able to run 5k continuously.
We then went on to run the Ealing Eagles 10k on the 8th May which was extremely hot but good fun! Aside from the running there’s the social side of the club which is summed up by the fact that we are known as ‘a drinking club with a running problem’.
For anyone thinking of signing up to the beginners, I’d say stop thinking about it and just do it, you never know, you might even enjoy it!
Caroline Wilkinson - February Beginner & Ealing Eagle