Women will set the pace in 5K Clifton Park run this Saturday

WOMEN are being encouraged to get running during a race event which will be staffed by an all-female crew to mark International Women’s Day.
By Adele Forrest
Published 4th Mar 2020, 09:34 BST
Updated 4th Mar 2020, 09:45 BST
(Left to right) are: Volunteers Nasreen Afsar, Kat Westwood, Neal Matthews event director Kate Green and volunteer Bob Ellis.(Left to right) are: Volunteers Nasreen Afsar, Kat Westwood, Neal Matthews event director Kate Green and volunteer Bob Ellis.
(Left to right) are: Volunteers Nasreen Afsar, Kat Westwood, Neal Matthews event director Kate Green and volunteer Bob Ellis.
 
Rotherham’s weekly 5K parkrun will partner with Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign for a nationwide International Women’s Day Parkrun on Saturday, March 7.
 
The free 5K event is held every Saturday at Clifton Park but this weekend will see the course staffed by an all-female team — and female runners of all abilities are encouraged to join.
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    It’s all to raise awareness of International Women’s Day, which falls annually on March 8.

    Volunteer Sasha Gallagher (46), of Clifton, said: “We are trying to get more people involved.

     
    “Come down if you have never done a parkrun and want to celebrate women keeping fit.”

    Rotherham Harriers member Sasha said the running club would be helping to “take over” this weekend’s run in Clifton Park, which will see female Harriers staffing all the volunteer roles.

     
    “It starts at 9am and goes on for however long people take — they can run, walk or jog,” she said.
     
    “This week, the fastest time was 17 minutes and the slowest was around 50 minutes.”
     
    Around 150 runners of all abilities take part in the Clifton Park event every week, which Sasha said was a relatively small amount for the popular nationwide event.
     
    The 5K route takes in three laps of the park — which is also the home of the Rotherham Advertiser-backed 10K, which returns in May — and has a unique, hilly terrain.
     
    Sasha said the gender mix was usually around 50/50 and she had recently encouraged her 15-year-old daughter to join, which had had a positive impact on her mental health.
     
    “My daughter Aimee suffers with bad self-esteem,” she said.
     
    “She started on a Couch to 5K course — her face when she finished the parkrun was amazing.
     
    “I’ve seen first-hand the positive effects running can have in teenagers.
     
    “She now runs two to three times a week and I’ve noticed her confidence improve, she’s like a different person.”
     
    Sasha said women often avoided running in public but the parkrun was a safe environment to exercise in, with marshals located at several checkpoints around the park.
     
    Children aged under 11 must be accompanied by an adult.
     
    For more information search for Rotherham Parkrun on Facebook.
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