Ballymena Runners are delighted to offer another Cosy Sofa in January 2024.
The Cosy Sofa will starts tomorrow, Tuesday 9th January at 7.00pm in Lifestyle Fitness at Pennybridge. As with previous years the programme will be led by trained, experienced leaders with the support of experienced club members. Runs will start at 7pm each week.
The Cosy Sofa is a 9 week programme suitable for everyone. By the end of the 9 weeks you’ll be able to run for 30 minutes (or maybe do a 5k parkrun).
Hundreds of people have completed our Cosy Sofa so come along and join us in January.
Joining
The fee is £15 for the 9 week programme which includes two runs each week with experienced leaders, T-shirt on completion of the course and a graduation ceremony to mark your achievement.
Registration is now open - REGISTER HERE. Â
The numbers will be capped to the first 100 applicants. Unfortunately runners under sixteen years of age cannot participate in this particular event.
Cosy Sofa Training Plan
The Cosy Sofa is a 9 week programme suitable for everyone. By the end of the 9 weeks you’ll be able to run for 30 minutes (or maybe do a 5k parkrun).
Who are Ballymena Runners and what’s the Cosy Sofa?
Ballymena Runners is a local community based running club with over 300 members of all abilities. The club firmly believes that running is for everyone and aims to support both the hares and the tortoises!
The success of the club is all due to how members support each other. The club has a large number of qualified and experienced Leaders and Coaches to support the runners.Â
A key aim for the club is helping people who don’t run to start running – starting from the Cosy Sofa - to being able to run a parkrun of 5km (about 3 miles). The Cosy Sofa programme aims to introduce people to running, get them interested in the ‘parkrun’ concept and consider joining us in Ballymena Runners. It's all about getting you to enjoy your run. Â
Ballymeba Runners has ran many Cosy Sofa / Couch to 5k programmes to encourage people to take up running. Running provides great physical exercise, benefits mental health and provides a welcoming social aspect.Â
The Cosy Sofa is a popular programme so numbers are limited to a maximum of 100.
What’s involved in the Cosy Sofa?
The club know that getting out the door is the hardest step in the nine-week course. They also know that all the club members who help with this are there to make you feel good and you will be encouraged and supported throughout the entire program.Â
You need to be injury free to start. The coaches will be progressing at a pace to suit absolutely everyone so please don’t think you need to be super fit to turn up and take part.
All that is asked of you is that you complete each run in the program. That amounts to three runs per week.
On Tuesday night the leaders will take runners in small groups for their run. Midweek runners will do their own run. On Saturday leaders will take runners on their run as part of the Ecos Parkrun. The runs are shown on the Cosy Sofa Training Plan at the bottom of the page.
If you're wondering what to wear, there is one simple rule - see and be seen. It is asked that everyone wear some high visibility clothing. If you have something that is reflective, wear it as well.
Dress appropriately for the weather conditions. Many runners this time of year use a waterproof jacket, hat and gloves. Visit the Ballymena Runners Running Safely page for more helpful tips.
All runs will be led by the club's experienced Leaders and supported by experienced club members many of whom have done the Cosy Sofa themselves.
When you complete the programme the club will have a graduation ceremony where you will each receive a T-Shirt and a bite to ea!
For more information about our Cosy Sofa programme, contact Ballymena Runners at: