We are a pack of 17 women running the Winter Wolf Run on Sunday 3rd November to raise money for two causes: the mental health charity MIND and the Women in Power (WiP) Bursary Fund. Please read our full story and donate here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/wip-wolf-run
Today we hear from Lizzie who says that running the Wolf Run is:
‘About community at a time when we could not need it more… I think we all need to find ways to build our resilience, to feel and express our love…’
We raise money annually for the WiP Bursary Fund but this year is different; we are running and fundraising in honour of our sister and friend, Jayne Blackman, who died by suicide in 2018. We want to double our fundraising so that we can give to both organisations.
Taking on the Winter Wolf Run is no small feat. Each women running is doing so for their own personal reasons as well as for our collective goal. We range in age from 5 decades, from different walks of life and represent the power of communal action.
Let’s hear more from Lizzie
Just before I was 60 (one week in fact) I went for my first ever park run. I had not knowingly run more than a kilometre before and I was nervous. Talking to a young woman at the start and asking her thoughts about walking and running in sections she looked at me and said: ‘I think you should just start off, keep going and see how you get on’.
Her confidence in me (at least three decades older) combined with the amazing atmosphere and fabulous volunteers set me off all the way round in one! That’s what supporting each other can do.
Since then, I have been running occasionally and have signed up for the Winter Wolf Run. To prepare I’ve joined a lovely women’s running group in Oxford and we all run at different paces, enjoying cake and coffee together at the end.
I also found a running group in Faringdon (near to where I live) also very supportive and ending at a café. I began to realise I might even enjoy this – sometimes! I certainly felt great afterwards and these running groups were much more about community than competitiveness.
For me, this run is all about that. It’s about community at a time when we could not need it more. Going into the future, we all need to find ways to build our resilience, to feel and express our love, and to experience our interconnectedness with other humans and the natural world.
And then there is Jayne who I personally did not know very well, but who stands for all of us when we cannot find the spark that makes life worth living. My father was bi-polar and his journey was one of whispers in corners and the never spoken shadow, so I grew up with all the effects of that and none of the understanding.
Here’s to mental health being treated just like physical health – without shame or blame. Here’s to being able to be together in our dark places and our light ones. No sun without shadow.
I am so grateful for this challenge, for the behind-the-scenes team making it happen, for knowing who I will be running with and how we will support one another. I think I can claim to being the oldest in the group, and if I am right I shall milk that for all I am worth!
Please donate here https://www.gofundme.com/f/wip-wolf-run and give what you can. For each donation, big or small, we thank you so much for helping us achieve our goal and giving back to organisations creating positive change in the world.
