AS LOCKDOWN began and things started shutting down, any-one would think a running club that specialises in group activities would be one of the first things to fade into the background.

But as it happens it’s been quite the opposite with Alton Runners!

Coach Richard Taylor said: “The coaching team met by video conference early on to review ideas about how we could keep everyone motivated and fit during the lockdown.

“The plans included sharing written training sessions for members to follow in their own time.

“These included recommended running/walking routes, livestream home workout sessions for strength, conditioning and injury prevention training, as well as challenges and fun things.”

As it turned out, these have all been incredibly popular.

One of the fun challenges was the #AltonRunnersShirtSelfie campaign, which Richard set up to encourage members to take a selfie while wearing the club shirt out on a run each week, to be shared on the members’ Facebook page.

He said: “This has really helped us to stay motivated and connected, both to the club and with each other.

“The photos are great and will serve as a wonderful memory of this unique time.”

Hosted by Alton Runners, the popular annual Alton 10 road race due to take place on Sunday, May 3, has been postponed until 2021 – like many other races.

However, this didn’t stop a number of club members running their own socially-distanced ‘races’ on the day, including Jonathan Cook, who has been going from strength to strength since revisiting running at the beginning of the year.

He said: “It was a personal challenge I set myself and it really helped knowing a few others were going to be doing it throughout the day.

“Before running 10½ miles on the day, the furthest I had run was 7½ miles, so I felt really chuffed. I saw only one other runner during the course and he was running the opposite way!

“I’ve managed to shed about 30lb in the past two months, so I’m pretty happy with my progress.”

Among those sharing their weekly running stories, husband-and-wife team Diane and Ian Urquhart have been keeping everyone entertained with their regular updates.

Fully equipped with race numbers, makeshift drink stops, medals and even a post-race foil blanket, the ‘Alton Unofficial 10-mile Road Race’ was no exception.

Diane said: “This would have been our first year entering the Alton 10 so we decided to take part in our own unofficial race.

“Having arrived at race HQ (Eggar’s School) we had no queues for race numbers, toilets or the baggage drop-off and we started at the front of the pack to avoid any early collisions on the start line!

“We enjoyed the route as well as the lovely scenery, animals and wildlife – and were delighted Alton Runners took all the top places!”

Like many others, club member Bianca Junge has been finding it difficult to stay motivated during the lockdown. “The majority of my training is driven by races and socialising with my Alton Runners friends so a big motivator is seeing some of the coaches and runners during our virtual bootcamp – run by coach Jeff Smart – every Saturday morning.

“We’ve even managed to keep up our coffee and cake tradition!”

To keep spirits up, club member Jim Armitage and his daughter Katherine came up with a number of fun videos.

Jim said: “The Urquharts shared a video with us showing Reading Road Runners throwing a club shirt to each other in isolation around their gardens. This inspired me to make a video of myself throwing an Alton Runners top around my garden, catching it myself.

“My daughter Katherine recorded a number of short video clips of me then edited them together and set them to music.

“We posted this on the Alton Runners Facebook page and several club members said that it was very entertaining and could we make a video of other club members doing something similar.

“One of the training sessions we have done on Jubilee Fields is the banana relay race, where we ran around the field passing bananas on in relay style, so we decided to make a virtual banana relay. Club members filmed themselves in their gardens catching and throwing bananas.

“Katherine linked these together on her laptop and set them to music of the Banana Splits.”

And so the Alton Runners Banana Relay was born.

Club chair Philip Scrase said: “In these challenging times, club members have been great at helping each other keep motivated, especially as many are missing the training sessions.

“It has also been great that we are finding ways of bringing some fun into lives by members video and selfie challenges. As the race director of the Alton 10, I am usually unable to take part so one personal highlight for me was being able to run the route on what would have been race day!”

To view the #AltonRunnersShirtSelfie photos and the Alton Runners Banana Relay video, visit the Alton Runners Facebook page.