Dawn Tobin is a Run and Group Leader for Dawns Running Pals, part of the Run Together initiative. Dawn's running group is for all abilities and everyone is welcome The group is popular and many of the participants are now taking part in 5K Park Runs, 10K races and some are even doing their first London Marathon.
Through her running group Dawn has helped many people to become physically active despite going through some very tough life challenges herself. In 2009 just before Dawn's 39th Birthday she was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. At the same time Dawn's close friends were also struggling to come to terms with their little boy James's diagnosis of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Dawn wanted to help so took part in a charity Triathlon organised by James's Dad, called TriForJames. After completing the TriForJames Dawns confidence had grown so much she, ran in the London Marathon in aid of Action Duchenne.
Dawn has inspired many people to start running and believe they can achieve no matter what. As one of her running group members explains:
"When I retired, I had nothing to do so I got a personal trainer and ran to one lamppost and gave up. But then, 6 months later I ran my first half marathon, and can now run marathons and ultras. Six years later and still running. Having met Dawn she encouraged me to do a run lead course and I now I take friends and family out running and have led a C25K group."
Leicester-Shire & Rutland Sport (LRS) have a dedicated walk and run lead within the team who supports individuals like Sue who want to set up new groups. The support includes formal course funding and support, mentoring and promoting activity through their networks. Additionally the run and walk leads are a key partner in designing and developing CPD opportunities for further development. Using this bottom up approach has allowed the group to develop in several non-traditional areas including becoming mental health awareness trained to support those living with conditions within the leaders respective communities.