MORE than 20 runners, many of whom are members of Farnham Runners and regular attendees at Alice Holt parkrun, have been taking part in a ‘Fat Pack Challenge’ since the start of 2017.

The challenge has consisted of 11 ‘slimmers’ pairing up with a volunteer ‘sponsor’, who each agreed to carry the weight their buddy had lost by April 1 around the parkrun’s 5km forest trail.

The challenge includes a charitable element too, as all weight lost over the 12 weeks was replicated in the sponsors’ backpacks with packaged foodstuffs donated by the Alice Holt parkrun community.

After the run, these items were donated to Farnham Foodbank so that local people can benefit.

On the day, a total of 121lbs had been lost by the slimmers, so the brave sponsors each carried, on average, 11lbs of extra weight.

The group was intrigued to see how much faster the slimmers ran carrying less weight, and how much slower their partners ran with their extra loads – an average of around three-and-a-half minutes faster or slower in each case, across the 5km distance.

Farnham-based Kathy Brown, who with Carolyn Wickham came up with the concept, said: “We wanted to lose weight after our Christmas excesses to feel better and run faster by the summer.

“A stone in weight might not seem that much when it’s crept on over time, but if you pick up a load of that size, you quickly realise just how heavy it is. When you imagine the additional stress that is putting on your body it’s no wonder exercise feels hard.”

Carolyn added: “I joined Farnham Runners last year and was worried I might not fit in with fitter, slimmer people, but it’s a great club.

Everyone is welcome no matter how fast or slow they run and I’ve been amazed at how many others signed up to the Fat Pack Challenge once we came up with the idea.

“Our husbands and sponsors weren’t looking forward to carrying the weight we’ve lost, but it’s all in a good cause and doing it with others has made losing weight so much more fun.”

Carolyn visited the delighted Farnham Foodbank this week to hand over the 121 lbs in weight of donated food, and learned that stocks of donated foods are currently low. “It’s a sobering thought,” observed Carolyn, “that so many of us eat to excess, when there are local people without the basic necessities.”

The group has decided to keep going with their weight loss endeavours with the support of the running community and to continue donating to local foodbanks.

Anyone wishing to participate in the next round of the Fat Pack Challenge ending July 1, either as a slimmer, sponsor or food donor is asked to contact Kathy or Carolyn at [email protected].