At the end of 2022, Newport & District Running Club decided to set the club’s members a challenge, or rather, a set of challenges. Each month in 2023, members of NDRC will be set a challenge each month, the completion of which enters them into a prize draw for a hamper at the end of the year. It’s all free to enter, with the emphasis on participation rather than competition.

Darren and Donna during a 5k run they did as part of the challenge

The challenge for January 2023 was to be active every day in some way. A lot of members naturally chose running as their activity of choice, but a number of people mixed it up with trips to the gym, swims in icy-cold lakes, bike rides, walks, and other ways of keeping active. Club Secretary Emily Pope even managed to get a run added to the itinerary of a conference she was attending on one of the days!

Hilary Stevenson training at Club La Santa in Lanzarote as part of the challenge

In total, 18 members completed the challenge, and the sharing of their accomplishments on social media seemed to be a good motivating factor in keeping each other going – a number of members said that they were inspired by each others’ achievements.

February’s challenge is to run or walk 5k at least four times during the month, and a number of members have already got a few runs in the bank.