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YCF #RoseRunners Support World Mental Health Day

Rich Sadler

The Yorkshire Cricket Foundation Running club, set up in May 2016 with Run Leeds, best known as the YCF #RoseRunners, took on a #RunAndTalk run in support of World Mental Health Day. They met at their usual time and place, Monday evening, 5:30pm, outside The Yorkshire Cricket Centre, to complete the 4K run.

 

#RunAndTalk is an England Athletics initiative to get people running, not just for the physical benefits, but for the mental health benefits that physical activity brings. The RoseRunners decided to take part in one of these runs to show how the YCF running club is inclusive to all abilities and promotes positive mental health.

 

One Run and Talk Runner said:

 

I loved the fact that the run was to raise awareness about mental health and show that it’s okay to talk to people without feeling ashamed or embarrassed.

 

As the runners gathered to register for the run, they were given a RoseRunners trainer tag to overtly show their support for mental health awareness. A total of 22 people met at The Yorkshire Cricket Centre, where, after a couple of icebreaker and  warm up games, they started the run in two waves. The route took them up to Beckett’s Park, on to Far Headingley and then back downhill on Otley Road. The run finished at the Original Oak in Headingley where the group cooled down and had the opportunity to socialise over a post-run drink! 

 

One YCF #RoseRunners summed up the run, saying:

 

It was lovely to see so many people turn up for the run, especially the amount of new faces that weren’t currently part of the RoseRunners. Mental health is an important issue, and to see people actively joining to raise awareness for it, as well as speaking about it, was great.

 

The #RoseRunners meet every Monday at 5:30pm at The Yorkshire Cricket Centre. For more information of how you can get involved, please contact Beth.Cook@yorkshirecricketfoundation.com

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