Rosemary Hargan

I have been running for at least 10 years and got into running mainly to keep fit and meet new people as I had recently moved to the Magherafelt area. I took the plunge and joined a local running group and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. As well as maintaining a healthy lifestyle by training with the club twice a week and also entering local races as a representative of the club, I have made many lifelong friends. Although I think my strength in running is endurance rather than speed (I have completed 10 marathons) my favourite run is the Giants Trail which is a 10k trail run in South Belfast, Queens Pavilion.

In Magherafelt there are several picturesque routes, a number of which are centred around Mullabhoy Hill. Magherafelt has an abundance of hills which feature in at least one weekly run. I qualified as a Coach in Running Fitness in 2018 and happily assisted in the coaching in my club for over a year. I am really glad that I did become a member of a running club all those years ago as the experience was both enjoyable and educational, but I felt that the club structure was not conducive to novice runners so felt unable to stay.

I now have a running group, Rosemary’s Runners 2020 and we have a core group of about 30 runners which also includes athletes from other clubs. We usually have from 12 to 20 athletes attending the sessions, depending on weather/holiday time etc. We do speed work on Monday evenings at Meadowbank Sports Arena and in the summer time do hill work.

I do not actively seek athletes but when they approach me they are made feel very welcome and know that when I say 'all abilities welcome' that’s exactly what I mean!