Thirteen runners successfully completed our 9-week 2025 Couch to 5K course, with another two hopefully going to join us again in April when we run our 2026 course. To celebrate their incredible transformation, they all took part in their first parkrun at Woodhouse Moor. This was their 3rd and final run of week 9, the last week of the course. All thirteen successfully completed the full 5K with no walking at all!
Our C25K participants have been supported throughout by Valley Striders’ run-leaders and back-markers, and those people, along with several other club members, where at Woodhouse Moor to support our participants.
Our 13 participants started out as complete non-runners. They found the initial jump from a 1 minute run to a 3 minute run daunting, yet by week 5 they were running 20 minutes without stopping. Week 5 run 3: the 20 minute run is the pivotal point in the course. It’s the point where everyone realises they can do it. After that there was no stopping them and they can now confidently run for 35-40 minutes without any thought of walking (well maybe a few little nagging thoughts – don’t we all?)
The C25K graduates are now taking part in Valley Striders’ Beyond C25K programme. This involves a gradual introduction to the Improvers’ Group Tuesday training and a specific Beyond C25K run on a Thursday. There have also been a few more parkruns completed including a Christmas Day parkrun, the Brooklyn Bridge parkrun and a Santa Dash.
