Running in Unity: The Silver Joggers' Path to Wellness and Connection
Exercise that builds community? We're all in! We caught up with the Silver Joggers to learn how they’ve turned jogging into a fun, inclusive and social activity in Headington.
If you’ve been out and about in Headington on a Thursday morning you may have seen a flash of blue jogging past you, and thought, “what was that?”. Well, it was probably the Silver Joggers! They’re Headington’s resident running group who meet at 9:30am every Thursday for a 5k around the area before finishing up in the Courtside Café for a hot drink and chat.
The group have become a Thursday morning staple since we opened, so, we wanted to hear more from them about how the Silver Joggers came to be, as well as the benefits they find of exercising together. So, on a cold but beautifully sunny Thursday morning, we popped to meet the group’s founder Keith, his wife and fellow Silver Jogger, Theresa, and Cathy, one of the group leaders, after their run for a coffee and a chat!
How did the Silver Joggers start?
Keith hadn’t initially intended to start a jogging group! However, with his background as a Professor of Human Metabolism at the University of Oxford and having published multiple books in that area that place a large emphasis on the importance of physical activity, to support both our metabolism and general bodily health, Keith knew he wanted to help the community get active. Originally, he wanted to become a volunteer health leader but was told there were already lots of health leaders in Headington, and what was really needed was a jogging group for older people. So, the aptly named, Silver Joggers was born!
Starting in 2014 and making slow progress at the beginning, with only three people turning up to the second run, the group has grown and now routinely has 30+ people join them each week, with “several hundreds of people” having run with the group across its lifetime. To accommodate each runner’s ability, the group split into three sub-groups when they set off. The fastest group is for those that have more experience and are comfortable running 5k without stopping; the second group is a bit gentler, with occasional walking, while the third, ‘Beginners and Returners’ group, is adjusted to suit the abilities of those in the group on the day. Each group is assigned one of their seven fully qualified run leaders who set the pace and make sure everyone is comfortable. Each individual runner’s journey is supported, with graduation between groups being encouraged when the time is right. Cathy advised that she has some runners in the Beginner group that have chosen not to join the regular runners as they like the slower pace, Theresa further told us that one of these ladies declined graduating because “she’s not sure she would be able to chat as much” in the regular runner group!
Why a jogging group?
Keith, Theresa and Cathy all said that they find group jogging a great way to socialise and a source of motivation – as Keith says, “If it’s up to you to go out on your own, it’s all too easy to find a reason not to”. Theresa expanded on this and said that she has made many new friends through the group and that those friendships go beyond running into other areas they have in common and it’s these friendships that keep her coming back each week. Cathy went onto explain how she hosted a Ukrainian guest and found it useful to talk to other members of the Silver Joggers that were also hosting to hear what they were doing and about their experiences. The three also advised that the beauty of a jogging as a group is that “we’re chatting away and we just forget we’re running and that’s a great thing, to get out of your head when you’re running”.
To keep things interesting for its members, the Silver Joggers take a different route each week, something that Cathy enjoys planning, with Shotover being a favourite of the group. We discussed how jogging allows you to see more of the world around us, picking up on things we may not normally notice – for example in their run before meeting us, the group had been looking out for the snowdrops that were just coming into bloom.
We asked Keith, Theresa and Cathy whether they had any advice for people wanting to join them for a run but might be feeling a bit nervous, and they said that they want to reassure people that there will always be someone to run with you, they’ll never leave anyone behind, and they’ll never hold you back. They mentioned that a few weeks ago they had a couple visiting from out of the country who heard about the group and joined a run, the husband was in his 80s and took frequent breaks to walk but someone stayed with him the whole time, encouraging him along the way, and he loved it! If you’re thinking of joining a run but would like to chat to someone from the group first, get in touch and one of the run leaders will get back to you.
Why the Bury Knowle hub?
Prior to the hub being built, the Silver Joggers would end their run where they started, at the entrance to Bury Knowle Park, and disperse from there. However, since the café has been open, the group now meet for a cool down on the grass outside before heading in for a hot drink and a further catch up – something Theresa said is ‘wonderful’ as it gives her the chance to chat to those she wasn’t running with! The buzz the group bring to the café when they’re in is undeniable, and the sense of community is palpable.
We share the Silver Jogger’s focus on community and appreciation of exercise as something that can bring us together, as Keith put it ‘We’re all after the same things, aren’t we? More people feeling good’, and we’re grateful that we get to be a small part of this group’s journey to achieving this with the people in Headington.
We are firm believers in the benefits of group exercise, and whether it’s a jog or another activity, Bury Knowle Park has you covered. The Silver Joggers welcome everyone regardless of age or ability, to join them for a run sign up HERE – no payment needed, every run is free. If jogging isn’t your thing but tennis, netball or Zumba are, click HERE to find group sessions at the hub.
More on Keith’s publications:
Keith’s early books are widely used by university students during their studies, but his more recent work, particularly his latest book ‘A Calorie is A Calorie’ (Keith N. Frayn), is aimed at helping the general public understand the science of what regulates our body. His self-professed non-academic wife, Theresa, advised that she read the chapters as they were being written to make sure that fellow non-academics would understand the science and be able to benefit from the knowledge being shared. The focus of the book is the importance of going back to basics with what we know about food and how rediscovering the benefits of an active lifestyle is key to improving our health.
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