When a casual exchange on LinkedIn turned into a fitness and networking club for the Sheffield business community, we wanted to know why the idea had hit such a nerve. As one of the founders, unLTD’s Phil Turner tells us how he, Sam Newton from Gravitate Accounting and Gameshow Allstars’ Hannah Duraid have turned an offhand exchange on social media into a new kind of networking forum…
Phil: It all started with a casual comment on social media, as most good ideas do these days. I guess that’s the modern day equivalent of brainstorming over a pint in the pub. Hannah had posted on LinkedIn between Christmas and New Year that she was looking for a running challenge this year and wanted some folk to join her. Well, I’m always a sucker for something to get my teeth stuck into and before I knew it, we’d not only signed up to run the Sheffield Half Marathon, raising money for Paces but along with Sam from Gravitate had agreed to launch a local business running club! It’s only been a few weeks but numbers are swelling, so you can tell it’s really caught people’s imagination.
Hannah: The idea came about because last year I got a lot more back into fitness. I started going to the gym, doing yoga classes, and all that kind of stuff. I don’t actually like running but my thinking was I should push myself to do something that I find a real challenge. I think making yourself do stuff you don’t necessarily want to do is a helpful thing to do in business, so I just thought I’d put a post out there after I’d been for a run to see who would jump on board. And I really like the idea of building a community. I wanted to do more networking this year, so it seemed like a nice to be able to run regularly and also talk business to people too.
Sam: It’s all about being accountable. If it was just me trying to go out for a run every Monday then when it’s cold, dark and wet, I just wouldn’t do it, but because I know there are other people turning up expecting it, you drag yourself out. And it’s for everyone, not just regular joggers or fitness obsessives. We are tweaking things all the time, but the idea is that for those who just want to have a nice, slow jog and chat for a few kilometres they can, but for those pushing themselves to a longer goal, we have a faster group that run further and harder, so they can keep building their fitness.
The club meet at the Peddler Warehouse car park at 4.30pm every Monday and cover one mile loops around Kelham and Neepsend. Some will run for two laps while others keep going to hit the distance that suits them. After seven people showed up for the first session, numbers have grown dramatically the last few weeks while there are over 60 on the What’s App group.
People come for a variety of reasons, some are new to the area and are looking for a shared goal and interest as a way of making connections (we already know of one ‘deal’ that has been struck through a connection made at the club) while others are stalwarts of the local business community. Hannah, Sam, Phil and some of the other regulars do their best to welcome new members each week and make sure someone runs with you to make you feel part of the club. So what made it such a hit so quickly?
Hannah: I think it’s because you can kill a few birds with one stone. I think because we started in January you have a big group of people keen to get back into fitness and if you can do it alongside people you can network with, then why not? And it’s very casual; you can dip in and dip out whenever you like, so you can treat it as a proper training run or something more casual. We try to be inclusive.
Sam: At lot of the people who have joined us are probably dealing with a lot of stress on a daily basis, so things like this really help. At one time, my brother was really struggling to cope with his mental health but once he started running, it just transformed him. He set up his own running WhatsApp page (@run4yourmind) to help thousands of others who are also struggling.
With the Sheffield Half marathon as the first goal on April 7th, Sam and Hannah are keen to keep the motivation going, so there will be quarterly events to aim for, such as the Round Sheffield Run over the summer and the Percy Pud in winter. Meanwhile, Leanne Keetley from Sheaf Design Works has designed the group a logo and there’s talk of branded running gear and regular socials to help grow the group’s value to members. The first of these is set for March 7 at Factory Floor.
