I couldn’t run for a minute, now I can do 10k events.

Gregory has been running since November 2023, after his wife was diagnosed with high blood pressure, diabetes and kidney problems. To try and avoid medication, it was recommended to lose weight and start exercising. So, in support, Gregory decided to do the same.

Initially, they started walking together and one day his wife suggested to start jogging, which Gregory replied "I hate running and have always hated running" so he carried on walking the dogs instead!

After a couple of weeks of watching his wife do Couch to 5km (C25K), Gregory crumbled and started his own C25K journey. He's gone from 105kg to 76kg and even started running into work, which is 2.5km each way.

It was whilst jogging back from work that Gregory noticed a group running every Wednesday and after a quick search on Facebook, found and joined Ilkeston Joggers.

One day, his wife saw a message on the WhatsApp group, asking if anybody would be interested in becoming a Leader in Running Fitness (LiRF). She suggested that he applied. He had noticed that sometimes the group was struggling for Leaders to cover the different ability runs every week and due to a recent change in his job, it gave him more time to commit to helping out. He put himself forward and is glad that he did!

Jog Derbyshire provided the financial support to pay for his LiRF and they also trained up some Co Leaders, hopefully this will help the group continue and prosper. They also provided C25K medals, which certainly helped the latest group feel they had achieved something.

Gregory is happy Leading any group but does like running with the 6-7min km group for a 4+ mile route. Normally they try to run a 3 mile slow, 4 mile slightly faster and a 4+ mile group.

Ilkeston Joggers meet every Wednesday at 6:30pm, usually starting from Ilkeston Tesco and running around the Ilkeston area . They also have a Sunday social, which is a mixed ability group, often running anything from 4 to 8 miles. These are normally out of the local area, with a cafe at the end for a Sunday morning coffee and cake.

Ilkeston Joggers usually has between 12 and 30 regular runners on a Wednesday evening and around 12 'silly enough' to get up to run at 8am on a Sunday!!

The main focus of this jog group is to let people know that speed is not the 'be all and end all' of running. You can go out and run at your own pace and every one around you will support and encourage you to keep going. They have a very mixed ability group; C25K all the way through to endurance runners, everyone is welcome.

Gregory encouraged a friend from yoga to come along to try running outside instead of on the treadmill. He now regularly runs 10k events and enjoys the social benefits of running in a group too. They're doing the Carsington 7+ with a few others from the jog group, Derby Ramathon and Robin hood Half.

He enjoys seeing people develop not only their speed and endurance, but also the confidence that they can do it, even if when they started running they didn’t think they could.

When he runs alone he finds it calms his mind, and all he has to think about is putting one foot in front of the other, breathing and not getting lost.

His confidence and health has definitely improved since he started jogging. He couldn’t run for a minute and now he can do 10k events.