We are delighted to introduce Rosemary Greenwood who is taking on an incredible 6 runs for our charity this year. She’ll be raising much needed funds to support autistic children and adults in Manchester and the surrounding area.
1. Why did you decide to take on 6 run challenge this year?
I decided at the beginning of last year that I wanted to complete another 10 x 10k races before my 65th birthday in January 2025. However, I completed 6 last year and have enrolled for 6 this year so will smash my target hopefully.
2. Have you ever entered any running events before and what is your running experience?
I have run Manchester 10k many times as well as Tatton Park and Palma de Mallorca amongst others. Palma is my favorite course.
3. How long have you been training for and what have been your biggest challenges so far?
I have been running local parkruns for about 7 years and been a part of Hard Yards Running Club for about 4 years.
4. What is your training regime?
I run with Hard Yards Running Club on Tuesday evening from Stretford Public Hall. We set out at 19:00 and are normally back at the Hall by 20:00 for a brew. Chat and cake are essentials. We are a great bunch and very welcoming. We were set up by a mental health nurse to promote good mental health. We chat about everything also a lot of nonsense.
5. Have you experience of fundraising?
I have previously raised money for the National Autistic Society as well as Dementia UK but in the last couple of years I have been mindful that we are all finding money a bit tight. So the runs I completed last year were more about a personal achievement and supporting other members of the running club.
6. Your grandson is an I AM member, could you tell us how it has benefitted him?
Attending youth club has been fantastic for Louis. He has made friends and is more socially active. His communication skills are massively improved. He loves coming every week.
He has always been a very quite boy and has found social situations difficult. This has been vastly improved since coming to youth club. Louis is a loving and caring young man and he is able to communicate his feeling so much better now. He has become a chattier young man and more relaxed socially.
7. Why did you decide to raise money for I AM?
I have seen from your Facebook posts what great work you are doing for the community. That is why I decided to fundraise for you.
8. Could you tell us more about Hard Yards and your training routine?
If you check out the Hard Yards Running Club website you will see the group was initially set up to promote good mental health through exercise. We have evolved into a social club and meet weekly at Stretford Public Hall to run, chat and eat cake and then do Parkrun on a Saturday (then eat a big breakfast). So we are really a (cake) eating club that likes to run a bit!
9. Could you tell us more about your grandson’s challenges that he has faced?
Louis my grandson was diagnosed at a very early age and has attended mainstream school where he did struggle both academically and socially. Louis is quite creative and artistic, unfortunately this was not really encouraged at school.
10. Do you have any advice for other people wanting to take on a similar challenge?
I would recommend joining a community program, there are lots of groups in the local area that encourage exercise, arts, and crafts etc. We are starting a new Couch to 5k (C25K) group in a couple of weeks and welcome all ages and abilities to come along.
Rosemary will be running Next Sunday is the Manchester Marathon and I am part of a relay team competing. I am very excited about this run.
If you would like to support Rosemary on her amazing challenge please click here.
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