Keeping students fit in the city

Tom started university with a keen interest in running, and soon joined Run Wild Manchester.

On his Stellify journey Tom became Run Leader and eventually President of the society, as a way to give back to the student community.

My name is Thomas and this is my Stellify story.

I'm a second year Mathematics student originally from Hereford.

I've always had a keen interest in running. I found out about Run Wild Manchester from one of my flatmates during the first couple of weeks at University. I had previously been running alone and had never experienced running in a group before.

I attended my first session and instantly loved it. Everyone there was extremely friendly and very welcoming to new runners.

My main motivation for joining the committee as Run Leader and eventually becoming President was to have the opportunity to give back to the student community. Joining the society in first year helped increase my fitness dramatically as well as providing me a way to de-stress from all the University work.

My most memorable memory has to be our first session after the Welcome Fair where 161 students turned up to our Tuesday run and we managed to fill the entirety of Brunswick Park with our warm-up. I believe we have achieved something truly special in the wide reach we have been able to achieve this year, dramatically increasing the popularity of recreational running within the University.

With an average attendance of more than 103 runners in the first semester we had quite a substantial amount of run leaders to turn up and lead difference pace groups, often slower than what they would run on their own.

Run Wild is a massive team effort and without our run leaders it simply wouldn't be possible. It is great seeing students benefit from what we provide, whether they are a novice or competitive club runner. They all manage to get something out of the club.