A step in the night direction

Yesterday saw the very first GoodGym Women's Night Run, and what a run it was!

Ten of us met up underneath the bright lights of the iconic London eye, and not even the increasing rain could dampen our enthusiasm.

The idea of the run was to break down any barriers to women running, primarily safety issues. So after a brief welcome, we each met our buddy for the evening - someone would be would be looking out for on the run so that nobody would be left behind at any point. We then did a warm up and went round the group introducing ourselves. Lucy also had the great idea of adding in a little fact as well, so we learned who had recently entered a big mountain race, who couldn't wait to run along the riverside, and who had a weekend of missions ahead of them. A huge congratulations goes to Helen who recently qualified for the tri ironman champs - absolutely incredible!

Soon it was time to set off, and we began our planned route along the Thames. We hit a good steady pace, swapping round backmarkers so everybody got a chance to chat, and taking in the sights. We passed Big Ben reflected in the water, paused for a picture by the Battersea Power Station Christmas Tree and sailed past Westminster under the cover of darkness.

It was a real joy to be running at night as a group, chatting all the way, pushing the pace when we felt like it, and hearing about everybody's goals and achievements. Hopefully this will be the first of more sessions like these. Please spread the word, let me know if you'd like to put on a run together, and most of all, keep running.