Woodburn slimmers pound the roads

The ‘Team of Twelve’, comprising women and men who are all members of the Wednesday Slimming World groups in the town, were among over 18,000 people participating in the bank holiday event.

Elspeth Turner-Warke, who runs the sessions at Woodburn Community Centre, said her members jumped at the chance to try something new and raise money for the cancer charity for children, young people and their families.

She said: “I am so proud of everyone of our members who completed the 5km run today, an amazing achievement for all of us. We started with the ‘Couch to 5k’ training schedule, as most of us had never run in our lives and the event was a great way to celebrate all our hard work, get more active and add another element to our healthy lifestyles that we have created already having lost weight.

“Altogether our Team of Twelve has lost a mammoth total of 48 stone and 8.5 pounds.

“When you’re overweight you can struggle with doing any type of exercise, so it can be daunting to take the first steps to becoming more active – but it’s definitely worth it.

“It is amazing to think that 10 weeks ago we struggled to run for more than 90 seconds at a time and to progress to running a full 5km without stopping is a fabulous achievement for us all. The key is to start small and find something that you enjoy.

“There’s no rule that says being active has to involve a gym or cost money, it can be as simple as walking to collect the children from school or hitting the dance floor on a night out and building from there.”

Elspeth also commented about the social aspect and who much members love getting together.

“Every week at group as well as celebrating each other’s success, helping everyone to prepare for the week ahead, sharing recipes and tips, we talk about activity and the different options available in our area and lots of the members do these activities together now. We even have senior members walking the weekly parkrun at Carrickfergus Leisure Centre on a Saturday morning.“

For more information about the Slimming World Groups, contact Elspeth on 07810003440 or check out www.slimmingworld.com

Individuals and other organisations from Carrick also took part in the marathon, many in support of charity.