As part of Connecting Carmarthenshire in the Amman Valley area, I was looking for gaps in activities in the community. I noticed there wasn't a running group in Garnant but there was local interest in one.
Firstly, I set out to find a run leader. I attended the Ammanford Chatty Pacers running group to get a feel for how groups with people of different paces was structured and how they are led. This group formed after run leader, Anthony, led a couch to 5k programme in Ammanford years ago and the runners wanted to continue to meet for social runs twice a week. Being a runner myself, I joined the group for 4 runs throughout August and built a relationship with Anthony. I told him about the idea to start a running group in Garnant and he was interested in being involved. He advised that one of the barriers to running is that people don't think they are fast or fit enough to even start, so we decided that we would start the group with a Couch to 5k programme. We hoped this would make it more accessible for new runners and seasoned runners too.
We started in September, the group met every Monday for 9 weeks, increasing their continuous running time each week. In the first week, we would run for 1 minute, then 2 minutes walking on repeat, and by the end of the programme, they were running for 15 minutes continuously! At our height we had 16 people coming, although, as the nights drew in, our numbers decreased. The small group that continued, worked towards 'graduating' at Brynaman Parkrun on Saturday the 25th of November supported by some ladies from the Ammanford Chatty Pacers who joined us for the event. Most of which had been Couch to 5k graduates themselves.
Some of the Garnant group continue to run together socially and some have joined the Ammanford Chatty Pacers.
