I'd Rather Be Reading!
I'd Rather Be Reading - the start!🏃
Welcome to the first installment of 'I'd Rather Be Reading!'
A few months ago, I was plodding (and I do mean plodding) along the pavement, thinking about all the books that I would like to see in school. For those of you who also enjoy a plod, this can offer a time of reflection, mindfulness, or just generally crazy ideas!
And so I start thinking about how we can raise money to buy the books that we really would like children to read. Could we have a bake sale? Oh no, whilst delicious, this would never give us enough... Could we have a read-a-thon? No, we need the books for that (hold that idea...)...Could our staff run a sponsored marathon? YES! Okay, perhaps not a whole marathon, but at least a half.
I arrive at school and know just the person to talk to about this. This person loves running, is a running trainer, has oodles of energy, and is full of excitement - Mrs Rees! Of course, Mrs Rees loves the idea.
We decide to have a meeting to discuss strategy. This meeting ends up less about strategy, but more about who we will encourage, cajole, simply beg into joining us. We have a list of staff names who will be joining our little (little!) sponsored run (of course, they don't know it yet).
Our first question...what can we call ourselves? Sitting in my office, I look up to see a picture I was gifted at Christmas. It states 'I'd Rather Be Reading', and so the name for our group is cemented (because, let's face it, most of us would much rather be reading than running!).
You can imagine the next part - telling people what excitement lies ahead for them. We are met with cries of 'Yes, brilliant, I'm in.' (FAB); 'Can I walk?' (Answer - of course); 'I'm not fit enough for a half marathon.' (Don’t worry - plenty of time to train); 'No...maybe...go on then.' (My favourite).
And so, in the last few weeks, staff have been out in the cold, dark mornings, the crisp bright Saturdays, sharing their highs ('I've nailed 5k - YAY!'), sharing their lows ('I've broken my toe...'). We are now ready to share with you a weekly blog that will give you more of an insight into some of our training sessions, and images of us running (walking and certainly plodding in my case).
Of course, this hard work is all for a good cause. It is to raise money so that we can buy books for our lovely children at Robert Kett Primary School. We all know about cuts to education, and we simply do not have the money to purchase the rich variety of texts that we know that we want our children to be reading.
Please support our campaign by logging onto our Just Giving Page and donating what you can (all we ask is for the price of one book).
In addition, we ask for your support by giving us a wave if you see us jogging around Wymondham, giving us remedies for shin splints, advice on which energy drinks, or just general encouragement. Please spread the word to anyone who has connections - can they support us in any way? Could you even join in the half marathon yourself? We would welcome co-runners, side-line cheerers, or sweet bearers! The half marathon takes place on the 11th of February, following the Marriott's Way Trail, starting at Whitwell Station and ending in Aylsham.
We truly need all the encouragement we can.
An update coming soon.
Some of our runners, feeling ready!
Link to the Just Giving Page:
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