JUST a few weeks ago they were couch to 5K novices…but now Louise Fieldsend and partner Jason Williams are heading for the full marathon as they join the St Luke’s Home Run.
Home Run is our March virtual fundraising event, which sees participants running just 13 miles to help raise the vital funds that will help us to continue caring for hundreds of people across Sheffield, in their own homes.
Regular runners are going the full distance in one run, while others are spreading the distance over a few days.
And having only taken up running back in the autumn, that’s exactly what Deepcar based Louise and Jason are doing.
But with a schedule of three sessions per week - all of them in excess of two miles - they are in line to run way past the 13 mile target and head instead towards a fill marathon distance.
“Jason has done running on and off most of his life but not to any serious extent for more than a decade,” said Louise, a project co-ordinator with Westfield Health.
“And I’ve not done any running since I was at school and I’ll be 44 this year so that’s a long time ago.
“We’ve done a lot of walking since lockdown though and when a few of the people at Westfield said they’d started the Couch to 5K, we decided we’d try it too because it just felt like we needed a new health challenge.”
The couple following the Couch to 5K app’s advice on mixing walking and running but were soon up to being able to run for 10 minutes at a time.
And when they heard about the St Luke’s Home Run, they decided to put their new found running skills to good use.
“My grandad passed away at St Luke’s 30 years ago and I know a lot of people, like most people in Sheffield do, who have been supported by the St Luke’s services,” said Louise.
“It’s a fantastic cause and it’s giving us that little bit of a push to keep us running.
“I know it’s only supposed to be 13 miles but I feel confident that by the end of March we’ll have done the equivalent of a full marathon - and we’ve always passed our original target of £250 so we’re very happy.”
To support Louise and Jason’ Home Run visit Louise and Jason
For full details of how to join the St Luke’s Home Run simply visit Home Run