Learn to run – and your chance to win with Operation Move (closed)

Exciting things are afoot, my friends, for we are working with the brilliant Katie and Zoey from Operation Move to bring you their new Learn to Run course – starting 1 July!

Gillian and I are both going to do the 10-week course and keep you up to date on how we’re going along the way. We come from very different angles to the course. Gillian has never considered herself a runner – and frankly remains to be convinced that she could ever love running. She loves incidental exercise, and walking with purpose around her neighbourhood, but finds running a bit rude.

I, on the other hand, have loved running for years, and many of you know I completed a couple of half marathons last year. But my running was put on hold earlier in the year when my back decided to punish me for having three enormous babies and not treating it with the respect it deserves all through my training last year.

I’ve spent months not running, having physio, acupuncture and cupping, and doing a shiteload of pilates, and now I feel ready to get back into it. Trouble is, it’s hard! It’s been such a long time that I feel a bit overwhelmed by it all and not sure where to start. I’m a bit frustrated by my body’s lack of cooperation in immediately trotting out of the house and knocking off a quick 10 km before breakfast.

This is where Operation Move come in. Not only are they going to teach us both to run, but we are going to join a buzzing, supportive community of likeminded women who are also going through the same thing, and follow the expert guidance of Katie and Zoey, who know exactly what it feels like to learn to run. Neither of them thought of themselves as a runner a few years ago, and now they are both running machines – completing marathons, teaching over 150 people to run so far, and making themselves a fixture of the running community. Most graduates continue to run regularly, and some have even gone on to train with Zoey for half marathons and even marathons. These are people who never ever thought they were capable of running before. Can you imagine that for yourself!?

Katie and Zoey in action
Katie and Zoey in action

The program is very gentle and inclusive for all levels of fitness, and Katie and Zoey will keep in touch with us every step of the way. There is a private Facebook group with great coaching, support and motivation. And Katie tells me they have seen some wonderful relationships grow in that group over the past year. “For us, it is a privilege to be a part of helping women develop new understandings of their own capabilities,” she said.

So the question is: who wants to join us? One lucky (and motivated) reader will receive a free 10-week course to learn to run right there along with us If this is something that has been on your ‘gunna’ list for a while now, here is your chance to finally make it happen. How awesome would that be? By the time spring rolls around, you will be a lean, mean running machine! And that means you get to buy lots of cool, fun running stuff like toe socks, headbands, and wireless headphones. Oh, and I love a good running skirt too!

If you’d like to win this fantastic prize, valued at $199, just leave a comment below and tell us what you think would be the best thing about being a runner. Let’s make it 25 words or less, hey? We’ll select our favourite answer and you will join us (online, no need to move into the spare room) on 1 July for Operation Move’s Learn to Run program. Entries close at 11.59pm on Monday 27 June 2015.

And if you can’t stand to wait for the fickle finger of fate to decide, sign up for the Operation Move Learn to Run course right now. Because as Z and K say, “It’s not the finish line that makes the biggest difference – it’s the start.”

So tell us, what do you think would be the best thing about being a runner?

 

Written By

Carolyn is the editorial director of Champagne Cartel and a freelance writer. In her spare time she is a long-distance runner, peanut butter enthusiast, and single mum to three incredible humans.

14 Comments

  • Running lets you escape from your troubles, your deadlines, the housework, the KIDS….clears your mind and let’s you feel gloriously free for 45mins of the day. It’s like a slow motion scene from Sound of Music! I miss that

  • I am turning 50 at the end if the year and at the moment I will be flab and 50 !please help me turn this around to be fab and 50 !

  • Running out of excuses,
    Running out of time,
    Please help me learn to jog and sprint,
    That would be sublime!

  • Getting out of the house (I work from home) and finishing a run without feeling like you are going to die. And the toe socks.

  • Oh my goodness, I would love to win this. The best thing about being a runner would be showing my kids that it’s never too late to start something new – if Mummy can start running when she at nearly 40, anyone can do anything! My Mum, a single mother, retrained and changed careers at 40 and I’ve often be encouraged by this and would love to pass this on to my kids. x

  • Hesitate even entering…soooooooo NOT (yet) a runner! However I’ve just stopped long-term insomnia meds with the intention of LEARNING TO RUN as my head/sleep drug…so…BAM. Entered.

  • I have always dreamed of being a runner.. like literally had loads of dreams about and I am yet to have really tried. To be honest I am a bot nervous about my pelvic floor.. if you know what I mean xx

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