Meet the Leader - Kat
Kat is one of our most recently qualified leaders. She always stands out on a Rogue Run as her clothing is, shall we say, never bland?!?!
Kat has been running since 2017. She decided to give it a go as a way of keeping fit and active and because it can be done whenever you want. She was also attracted to it because it’s a relatively cheap activity (little did she know at that stage just how much she’d be spending on this ‘free’ hobby). She simply went out one day not even knowing programmes such as Couch to 5k were a thing and just went out for a run.
She started off steadily and then decided to enter some organised races, taking part in Race for Life, Pretty Muddy races and some 10ks along the way. Having been bitten by the running bug, she then decided to enter the Derby Half Marathon in 2018! With the help of her friend Tanya, she trained and finished the race and after that she was hooked. Races came thick and fast as she discovered she loved a good medal! In 2019, she then decided to do a challenge/race every month for the year starting with RED January and ending with the Santa Run with lots of half marathons and 10k races in between! She wondered what was next and somehow developed the ‘crazy’ idea of running a marathon, entering the Manchester Marathon in April 2020. She had also been lucky enough to get into London Landmarks Half Marathon that year too.
Kat knows all about the ups and downs of running. At the start of 2020, training with the club she was a member of at the time wasn’t going well. She seemed to constantly be picking up little injuries and this made her feel like a rubbish runner, as it seemed everyone else was doing better than her. She almost gave up hope of completing her marathon, but then discovered Rogue Runners and joined the longer, Saturday morning runs under the guidance of Rogue Leader Gareth Roebuck. A number of them were training for marathons, so Kat joined them on a long run and immediately felt better! She could run, she wasn’t left behind and, most importantly, now believed she could do it! She found everyone was, in her words, “just brilliant” and they built up to 20 miles!! From that day she knew she had found a club that suited her and one she felt completely at home with. Unfortunately, Covid struck, and races got cancelled, but Kat was undeterred and was able to be ran her marathon virtually, with the help of the Rogues and her good friend Tanya she got that marathon done and was super proud of herself!
More recently, Kat has discovered a passion for helping and supporting other runners. She started by taking the Jog Derbyshire Coleader course, before progressing to the UK Athletics Leadership in Running Fitness” qualification in order to help as many people as possible to enjoy a nice run and exercise with no pressure. After chasing times for so long and living through lockdowns, Kat has discovered speed wasn’t as important to her as simply getting out in the fresh air with great people and just enjoying her time. Kat says “there’s no such thing as too slow with the Rogues as it’s a completely inclusive club. If you are taking part in one of our sessions, we want you to enjoy it”, a sentiment that is at the heart of our club
