Running

Scottish Athletics Club, Wellington

I started running for fitness at university, and found I really enjoyed it. I loved going running as a kind of meditation, to explore local tracks, and the sense of empowerment getting fitter and being able to run further gave me. During my 20s in the UK I ran for fun, did a bit of interval training with the local triathlon club and raced a few 10kms, half marathons and local winter cross country events.

When I emigrated to New Zealand in 2007 and moved to Wellington, I jumped at the chance to join a large running club, Wellington Scottish. I loved the community atmosphere and feeling part of something bigger than myself.

The pack runs on Saturdays were a brilliant way to get to know people and explore the city. Taking part in the winter harrier season of racing each year across the greater Wellington area was exciting and provided a sense of ritual over the years. It also created a lot of shared experiences with club mates.

I’ve met all of my best friends in New Zealand through this club and it’s been a huge positive influence on my life here.

After a year I became a ‘pack leader’ for the Saturday runs and created a popular Sunday long run group where we’d explore different trails around the city and finish with a coffee. I also created a lunchtime run squad on the waterfront where we’d do our intervals and recovery runs together. From this I got a real sense of how great it is to feel connected to a group and how everyone in the group helps support each other and how much fun it can be.

Steve Plowman & The Keas

I was very fortunate to be coached by Steve Plowman through the Wellington Scottish club. He helped me improving my running, achieve new personal best times in the 5km, 10km and half marathon, and taught me a lot along the way about listening to my body, patience, how to pace myself, and how less can be more in training.

Steve created a lovely community in the squad of people he coached and made us all feel special and inspired to give our best. Even when he retired from coaching for a while in 2011 and moved to Rarotonga, he kept in touch with his ex-squad through a series of entertaining emails about life on the island - he is also a prolific writer.

Before he left, Steve passed onto me some key knowledge about structuring running programs and I was able to put this into practice with coaching a new club member. Steve is incredibly supportive and always has time to respond to an email and pass on some insightful wisdom. He’s been a huge positive influence on my running and life in general.

After Steve returned from Rarotonga, he created the Keas Track Club, which is a Saturday morning track training session for runners of all ages and clubs at Newtown Park in Wellington. While I shifted focus from running to triathlon from 2012 for around five years, I joined in with this group in mid-2017 and was made to feel very welcome.

The Keas have a fabulous sense of community and Steve writes up a very inclusive and lively email every week, giving us all nicknames, and recognising good efforts at the track and away at events. I loved that someone’s good pacing in a session or improvement on previous times gets acknowledged just as much as the fastest runners. It makes everyone feel included. Read more about the Keas Track Club story.