Three graduate from Couch to 5K with a little help from Lifeways

Pictured: Stephen, Craig, Laura, Kelly, Sarah and coach Michael after completing their 5k run

Three people supported by Lifeways have completed the Couch to 5K challenge, finishing in spectacular style by crossing the finish line at the Hanley Parkrun, Staffordshire.

Stephen, Laura and Craig, who all live with learning disabilities, together with their support workers Kelly and Sarah, finished their 12-week wellbeing challenge in April, training through the cold winter nights to get fit for the run.

Amy Louise Gilbert, Managing Director for Supported Living at Lifeways, said: “We challenged all of our teams at the start of the year to promote health and wellbeing for the people we support and it was brilliant to see our team in Staffordshire put forward the Couch to 5K idea.

“We all know the link between mental and physical health, so it’s important to make sure we’re providing opportunities for the people we support to be the best version of themselves. Stephen, Laura and Craig, together with their support workers Kelly and Sarah, have shown tremendous courage and determination to get through this, and I’m sure there’s more to come from them. Congratulations.”

To help, the team enlisted the help of England Athletics running coach, Michael Beasley, who is also a community mental health nurse and a mental health ambassador for his running club. Over the 12-week programme, Michael was able to gradually increase the runners’ strength and stamina to help them reach their goal of completing the 5,000 metre run.

He said: “I followed a basic NHS Couch to 5K plan and we organised a number of sessions that would lead us to our graduation at Hanley Parkrun. We started off with six people, with three of those ultimately graduating. There were different abilities within the group, so we adapted each session to make sure we could stick. It was really good, and I think I got as much out of it as the runners did.”

Speaking to his support worker, Stephen said he looked forward to Wednesday evenings so he could go and train and meet new people who were all very welcoming, friendly and encouraging. Stephen was very proud of his achievement and has put his trophy on display in his room. Thank you to all involved and to the coach for taking his time to work with Stephen so he was able to achieve this.

Starting in January, the team organised for hi-vis running jackets, lights and light-up water bottles to keep the runners safe at all times. Michael’s approach to the training sessions was to involve lots of repetition, encouraging everyone to understand the importance of steps such as warm-ups and stretches to avoid injuries.

He said: “What I try to do is involve everybody and ask them what they think we should be doing, getting them to count off during stretches, and think about how I’m presenting. One lady in the group found it hard to do some of the stretches so I had to make sure that I did lots of demonstrations until she could do them herself.

“We also had to make sure that, because of the different ability levels, we had enough people to make sure everyone had somebody to run with. I asked someone from my running club who also works in care and has the appropriate checks to join in so that nobody was left alone. That made a big difference in allowing everyone to go at their own pace and get the most from the sessions.”

On the day of the Parkrun, Craig finished first before Michael and Stephen finished together. On finishing, the team went back to cheer on Laura, Kelly and Sarah so they could officially graduate from Couch to 5K as a team. To celebrate, the team each got a medal and a t-shirt to celebrate their hard work.

Michael added: “We could have done 5K anywhere, but I really wanted us to graduate at the Parkrun so we could get out into the community and make it special. Now they’ve done this, they can do Parkrun whenever they want now and there’s the social side to that too. I hope they continue with it.”