Meet the Leader - Michelle
Michelle has always hated running. Like many people, she has memories of absolutely dreading cross country in her P.E. lessons. She hated it and would just walk around chatting with her friends – that bit won’t be a surprise to anyone that knows her! Although running wasn’t really her thing and she wasn’t very athletic, she was competitive and did enjoy team games like netball and football. As she moved into her teenage years the pounds started to creep on and she slowly became more and more unhappy and self-conscious about her appearance.
Michelle joined a Weight Watchers (WW) group when she turned 18 determined to turn her life around. She went swimming 3 times a week after work and with the WW plan managed to lose 5 stone in 9 months. She was delighted to be asked by her leader to take part in a WW fashion show and felt a million dollars after receiving a personal shopper and having a full makeover. Determined to keep the weight off after all her hard work Michelle continued to keep going to WW groups, she loved the group support and the friendships she had made and also needed the accountability to keep her on track. She tried the gym but quickly realised it wasn’t something she was going to love or keep up and purchased a pedometer to track her steps. She found herself setting new challenges and increasing her daily step goal. Walking was something that fitted into her daily routine and actually enjoy. Being outdoors was great for her mental well-being and the best thing was it was completely free!
In 2010 Michelle welcomed her daughter Chloe-May into the world, followed by Jordan two years later, to complete the family. In 2016, with Jordan about to start school and helping her husband Matt lose a whopping 9 stone over the years, Michelle decided to pursue her passion of helping and supporting others and became a Weight Watchers Coach. She ran successful meetings in Heanor and Brinsley and helped many to achieve goals they thought were impossible. Michelle and Matt’s success also featured in Bella Magazine and several local newspapers.
So, what inspired a lady to run who claims the only thing she ran for was the ice cream van and hated running? This was all down to arranging a 5k event for her Weight Watchers members in 2017 at Shipley Country parkrun. After seeing their success and inspired by their achievements (including our lovely leader Martine)
Michelle wanted to challenge herself to run a 5k for the following year. She signed up to a Couch to 5k programme in September 2018, led by fellow Rogue co-founder James and, with the help of the organised sessions and the BBC app (with Michael Johnson in her ear), completed her first 5k in 6 weeks. Michelle graduated at Shipley parkrun and with her competitive side in full flow was the first graduate back!
She then completed her first 10k a month later with husband Matt’s support. Michelle continued to set new goals and completed Derby 10-mile race in November 2019 and went on to do her first half marathon during lockdown and another one later in the year for Great North Run virtual after the event was cancelled due to Covid. Michelle will be taking to the Great North Run start line in September.
Both Chloe-May & Jordan have now become Mini Rogues and are following in their parents’ footsteps having taken part in junior parkruns, fun runs, a 5k parkrun, and a Race for Life mud run. Jordan also took part in Jog Derbyshire’s 10th anniversary celebrations and, despite being the youngest there and aged just 7, went on to win the male under-14 category for furthest distance running a total of 4.4 miles.
Michelle loves the sense of achievement you feel after completing a run especially when you’ve not really wanted to go. She knows the hardest part is always getting out the door. For her, it’s all about making running fun and not taking it too seriously. She particularly enjoyed the Derwent River Relays and her aim is to encourage more people to have a go at running and have fun regardless of pace. She is looking forward to arranging more Rogue running events and also getting the Mini Rogues more involved. We all can’t wait to see what Michelle is going to be involved with next!
