WLV Sport joins RED January campaign

Throughout January, WLV Sport is supporting the work of Sport In Mind, joining the RED January campaign. RED January encourages everyone to be more active and raise awareness of mental health throughout the month of January.

Whether you run, swim, cycle, or choose your favourite fitness activity, set your goal and enjoy support from the RED community every step, splash and pedal of the way! You can sign up for free here: https://www.joinredjan.co.uk/. Furthermore, you can join the WLV Sport team to find further support for your effort. Please click here to join our team: https://www.joinredjan.co.uk/teams?teamid=5fd345162251ad0e1c1b8e52.

We would love as many people from the University of Wolverhampton to join us in our efforts to raise awareness.

Member of the WLV Sport team and enthusiastic runner, Rich Wood has begun his RED January journey and tells us below what this campaign means for him.

When I first saw this Red January initiative come through, I thought this would be the perfect excuse for me to get back into my running especially after Christmas. During the first lockdown that was when I really got into running, with gyms being closed and only being allowed one form of exercise or fresh air a day, I went from doing nothing to running 20-30k a week. Then gradually the restrictions reduced and life returned to normal and the running all but stopped. Fast forward 3 months and following a very ‘good’ Christmas it felt great to get back to running, even if my first run was hampered by my Christmas binge.

I’ve always tried to be active and always enjoyed running even completing half marathons a few years ago, the aim was to complete a full marathon but unfortunately I had to stop after picking up a number of injuries. So during the first lockdown it was great to get back into it, and this Red January has given me a reason to start it up again. I’m not going to lie my first run back after over indulging at Christmas is one I’d rather forget, but the other benefits I get from keeping active keeps me motivated, so I’ve set myself a target of 30 minutes exercise a day, and I can already feel the difference in my running. For me now running or keeping active is more important than ever, I recently lost my dad unexpectedly, and I find that running is a good way for me to release stress and clear my mind. This is my time to be alone with my thoughts, being a father of 2 young children I don’t get much chance of that at home. Some days I put my ear phones in and just go for it, other days I set myself targets such as specific times or certain distances. For me an early morning run works best as I always feel so much better and energised and I enjoy the feeling of achieving something so early in the day. So my motivation for doing Red January is more about my mental wellbeing, and it couldn’t have come at a better time with Lockdown 3 starting.

For further information about RED January, please contact our Sports Development Officer Lee Hardwick (Lee.Hardwick2@wlv.ac.uk).