Team Savvy Park Runrz

Castleford-based running club, Savvy Park Runrz will be joining us for the Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon.  

Thirty-plus members have signed up to the marathon and half marathon, and for many it will be their first marathon challenge. With some runners coming through their couch to 5K programme, they can’t wait to smash their marathon goals on race day.

The club will be supporting five charities including: The Leeds Hospital Charity, The Clothing Bank, Diabetes UK, St Gemma's Hospice and Different Stokes.

We recently caught up with the group’s Chair, Mark Spence. He tells us more about their motivations for running.

‘Our running club came as an idea when I was running my own 7 in 7 challenge. I initially aimed to run 7 km a day for 7 days, which turned in to me running for 7 days for 7 weeks during December 2020 and January 2021 (often in rain and snow) ... clocking up a total of 477km. During that time, I occasionally invited a friend or family member to run with me... we raised £5,400 for MNDA along the way.

During the time running it got me thinking, whilst I am happily running on my own, there are countless others who prefer to run as a group. So, I decided, how hard can it be to set up a running club... having never ran a race or been a member of a running club before, I set out to give it a go a set one up. 

With very little to do in-between lockdowns and restrictions I set out to research I needed to do... and with the support of friends and family, as well as Wakefield Council and Halifax Yorkshire and Humber Community Fund the club was formed (with a lot of hard work along the way from Team Savvy). We are an England Athletic Affiliated club and have gone from nothing to over 100 members. Our first club vest proudly displayed the MNDA logo on the front, which we used to help raise funds and awareness for the charity.

We proudly have 30-plus members taking part in the Half and Marathon, and for many, it is their first, with some coming through our Couch to 5k programme. A lot of our members are supporting a number of charities with the club supporting five charities including the Leeds Hospital Charity, The Clothing Bank, Diabetes UK, St Gemma's Hospice, and Different Stokes.

The story doesn't end there... my first ever official was the Great North Run supporting MNDA, running with Lindsey Burrow. We have remained friends ever since, with a number of members related to the family and/or close friends. It has turned into a real supportive family club.  

As part of our Marathon training, Lindsey and I try to meet up each week for a run and catch up; with a lot of messages of encouragement exchanged with one another during the week. 

I for one will be very proud to see Lindsey and Team Savvy smash their marathon goals... there will be a couple of tears am sure on the day, some of the sadness but a lot of pride. 🙂 

Good luck team, we can’t wait to welcome you all to the start line on race day!

To find out more about the club, go to their website here