Leeds Girls Can hosted a five-week block of ladies-only running sessions that aimed to improve the running technique of beginners based in Yorkshire.

“The five-week programme was created for female novice runners, introducing them to the more technical side of running. In line with government guidelines I worked with two sets of five women for 45 mins each per session plus a 15-minute turnaround,” said Fiona Hoare, a local coach who led the weekly sessions.

This marked the return of GO TRI Active sessions in Yorkshire following the national suspension of activity in March. These sessions were a fantastic opportunity for participants to rebuild their confidence and begin to learn new running techniques that they can take forward.

“The technique sessions started with a look at posture and how it affects running,” Hoare explained. “Trying to encourage the athletes to run tall, breathing properly and using arms and legs in a more economical way. With so much stress around at present, a lot of people have started to feel the weight of that stress on their shoulders and run hunched up.

“In line with that posture, I also introduced run drills to help activate the body and mind in preparation to run. Starting at the feet, foot rolls activated and strengthened the feet and ankles. We then progressed to working on single leg balance and then onto skipping.”

“A favourite of the group’s was carioca, sometimes known as grapevine. Once we’d worked on the drills to try and become more nimble on the feet, we took this to hill reps. It was nothing too steep, just enough to challenge the runners without being unsafe. The hill reps really encouraged the runners to be more agile on their feet and have the confidence to run up and downhill.”

The women who took part in the sessions had a variety of fitness levels and running experience, with Joanne Boocock having coached junior athletics as a volunteer at Pudsey and Bramley AC for the past nine years.

Despite also running socially with the Bramley Breezers for three years, Boocock still benefitted from the sessions, saying: “The concept of the Leeds Girls Can course appealed to me as I've never been taught how to run and felt I was stuck in a rut. Taking it, literally, back to basics felt initially a bit lame. However, I stand corrected. It really does work.

“We broke down every part of the running step which made you think about your style, or lack of it. As a result of breaking down the movements of the grapevine, it meant that I can actually now do it, something I have never been able to master.”

“My regular runs with my running club have seen more me confident in attempting longer runs and a new 5k personal best. In addition, I taught our younger Pudsey and Bramley members the grapevine using the exact same techniques and had twelve seven-year-olds grapevining across a local field, a sight to be seen.

“Due to a recent diagnosis of Covid-19, my running and coaching has stopped for a few weeks.   However, I'm hoping to continue with my new-found running confidence in the very near future.”

Another participant, Chloe Leary, left the sessions not only a stronger runner but with more confidence, saying: “They are amazing, friendly, informative and great fun. There are no wrong questions, no silly questions to ask. I can’t wait to see what’s next. I do run but I am a slow runner, I can’t seem to get faster, but this group has given me lots of tips and advice. I would love to do run/bike competition soon.”

Leeds Girls Can is part of the national ‘This Girl Can’ campaign that is funded by the National Lottery and has been developed by Sport England since its launch in 2015. The initiative has worked to encourage nearly three million women to take part in sport.

GO TRI is British Triathlon’s introductory programme of activities, with local organisers hosting GO TRI Events and Active Sessions across the country to provide accessible opportunities for newcomers to give multisport a go.

Hoare concluded: “Feedback from the sessions was very encouraging, a couple of ladies had set a personal best for a 5km run whilst others are now actively using the drills as part of their own warmups.

“The sessions themselves saw plenty of laughing and group encouragement and maybe some new friendships. Roll on the next lot of sessions. From a coaching perspective, this was great fun and very rewarding to see the progress over the five weeks.”