Hatch Warren Runners celebrate their 1st Birthday
On 6th March 2014 Hatch Warren Runners (HWR) celebrated its 1st Birthday. To celebrate the occasion HWR volunteered all positions at the local Basingstoke parkrun which had an attendance of 400 people, HWR laid on a gazebo full of cakes and treats for all the 5k parkrunners.
HWR was setup in March 2013 by Mark and Danielle Butler from Highdowns, Hatch Warren. Their goal was to remove the barriers of cost and ability from people joining a running club and running with others. At their first club night 10 people turned up and this quickly grew to 35 runners within a month. The club has grown to over 200 members of mixed ability within a year. At the Reading Half Marathon in March HWR had 74 finishers and was probably the largest running club in the event. Currently they have approximately 50 people midway through their first Couch to 5k course (C25K) designed for complete beginners. They will be graduating from this course at the 5k Basingstoke parkrun in the War Memorial Park on April 12th.
HWR believes its success has been down to them welcoming people of all abilities. Every member is able to encourage other runners and in turn has their time to be encouraged. With funding received from both the Basingstoke Sports Council and Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council the club has reinvested into its serving members by sending them on coaching courses organised by English Athletics. HWR also hires the council’s running track at Down Grange on a monthly basis to offer their members a variety of different coached training sessions and of course the “Magic Mile” nights.
Mark and Danielle really feel that HWR has become more than just a running club as the community spirit at the club has been overwhelming. Most noticeably the club was one of the driving forces behind the local #HopeForJayden campaign, buying the wristbands to sell and they did a 24 hour sponsored relay raising around £5000 to contribute to the costs needed to send Jayden and his family on their Disney Florida holiday.
For more information on HWR please visit their website at www.hwrunners.co.uk email hwrunners@sky.com or visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/hatchwarrenrunners
