Meet the Leader - Tessa
Tessa only took up running in her 50’s and is one of our most-recently qualified run leaders. A love of exercise passed her by at school, she was the overweight child who was last to be picked for team games. She hated cross country running due to the cold weather and the indignity of communal showers that were commonplace in the 1970s schools. Tessa would often see runners out in the wind, rain and cold and wonder ‘why?’ Thinking they were daft when they could be in a nice warm car and get there in minutes!
Tessa’s family were big – not in the sense of the number of relatives but in clothing sizes. Tessa had a huge wake up call when her mum died of heart problems when she was 22 and her mum was 51. After having her own children a few years later Tessa decided that, unlike her children who did not have any grandmothers, hers would not only have a grandmother but one that would be able to run around and play football, chase them around the park and generally be able to be the fun loving ‘nana’ her kids missed out on. Tessa then began her fitness journey. Her first love of exercise came when she discovered Belly Dancing and later on Zumba which combines dance and music. Even now, she has startled a few unsuspecting members of the public when her music is pumping when out running and having a shimmy on the Greenway in Ripley!
After not being able to fit into her Mother of the Bride outfit in 2016 she not only wanted to get fit but also lose weight. She embarked on Joe Wicks 90 day plan which combined HIIT, Weights and diet and lost 15 inches and 28lbs. Out of the blue, Tessa discovered that she could run, particularly downhill and gradually increased her distance and then started running at parkrun. She was always at the back and needed an energy tablet or jelly babies to get round the second lap but to her surprise she thoroughly enjoyed it and love the support and camaraderie of being with likeminded people. Shortly after this she joined a running club and started to use running as an aid to maintain her weight loss. The confidence running gave her led her to embark on a number of things including having her belly button pierced and embarking on a university degree in Criminology, from which she graduated in 2018. She has gone on to complete numerous 10k races and 3 half-marathons, including the Liverpool Rock n Roll and the Benidorm Half, and maintained her weight loss but increased her fitness. She has also helped other runners by marshalling at parkrun, Junior parkrun, Derby Ramathon, Derby 10 miles and Ironman.
2018 was not just the year she graduated from the University of Derby but also the year she achieved her long term goal of becoming a ‘Nana’ to Jensen and Erin and she enjoys chasing them around the park and taking them for long walks. She hopes in a couple of years to be running with them at Junior parkrun. Looking to give something back and encourage runners of all ages and abilities, we were all delighted when Tessa decided to complete her Leadership In Running Fitness course to become a member of our leadership team.
Tessa is an avid “Jeffer” which is a run/walk /run interval running method using different running & walking ratios expressed in seconds. Jeffing was created by the great Olympian Jeff Galloway (75) when he was recovering from injury. He found that he could run as fast if not faster as continuous running by taking regular, structured walk breaks throughout his run. Tessa has embraced this ethos in her own runs. In 2021, we decided to incorporate Jeffing into our group runs, with Tessa being 'Chief Jeffer'. She runs regular Jeffing sessions on Wednesday evenings, which are proving very popular amongst our membership.
Tessa realised very early on in her running journey that she is not a competitive runner and will not win any races and will most likely be towards the back of the pack, but she runs for the sheer enjoyment. She wants to promote running to everyone and explain that running isn’t all about pace, personal bests and race results, it’s about being outdoors in the fresh air with like minded people getting fitter and stronger but most of all, doing something that improves both mental and physical health. Now when she sees someone running alone in all weathers and up great big hills, she still thinks they are daft running on their own, and wants to shout out ‘Awesome running, come and join us at Rogue Runners Ripley!’
