The city’s first running tour company, Run of a Kind, has secured further funding from the leading mental health charity in the West Midlands, Living Well UK, and will continue the programme of wellness-themed tours throughout the Summer. The ‘Leafy Brum’ 10k runs will see groups of 10 led by a specialist running guide around Birmingham, with a wellbeing practitioner on-hand throughout.
Based on the popular tourist walking tour activity, a running tour is simply a more unique (and faster!) way to see and study a city with a local guide, with the latest instalment having runs take place at sunrise and sunset – a perfect opportunity to see the second city at its most beautiful.
The ‘Leafy Brum’ run will continue to begin at Cannon Hill Park with a yoga-inspired warm-up, and end with a wellbeing practitioner led-talk. What’s more, each runner will receive a free ‘RUN WELL’ running top and tote bag. The 10km will see participants run among Birmingham’s greener suburbs, focusing on the past and present of the city’s beloved parks and their impact on people’s wellbeing throughout history.
Living Well UK has supported over 12,000 individuals in Birmingham suffering from mental ill health during lockdown, but the experts warn that the number of people struggling across the region is much higher. Therefore, Living Well UK has funded innovative projects like this one, in a bid to help people to access alternative support and discover new hobbies.
The correlation between exercise improving mental health and exercise is well established, with one particular meta-analysis showing that regular moderate intensity aerobic activity had a significant antidepressant effect in people with depression.
Lucy Canham, Founder of Run of a Kind, commented on the continuation of the partnership: “The team and I are thrilled to continue working with Living Well UK, they’ve been an instrumental part of helping us to spread awareness of Run of a Kind and their funding allows us to host free runs for local residents, which is fantastic.”
Lucy and the team aim to make running tours less intimidating and slow down the rush to absorb surroundings rather than racing each other, which removes other barriers to exercise such as fear of being slow or unfit.
Sarah Cannon, Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner and Personal Trainer at Living Well UK, said: “The benefits of being outdoors and exercising is the premise of this project and it’s great to continue working with Run of a Kind. This forum is key to us to reaching out to individuals to motivate and inspire them to participate in movement for wellbeing.
“We also hope to raise the awareness of the other ways in which Living Well UK can support those living in Birmingham and Solihull to improve their wellbeing with approaches, such as walking therapy and personal training alongside guided cognitive behavioural therapy”.
Leafy Brum can be booked via www.runofakindbirmingham.com. There are 9 tours from Saturday 23rd July to Saturday 24th December 2022, and more details about the running tour can be found here.
