Sometimes I don’t want to run.  I know I like running, but sometimes the idea of heading out into the cold or wet or windy night doesn’t excite me. Sometimes I plod out the door anyway, other times I’ll sit on the sofa with a cup of tea and a feeling of guilt that I’m not running.

But there’s one run in my week that I always look forward to: I always look forward to running with my group. Hitting the streets with my beginner runners and seeing them progress towards running 5k is one of the highlights of my week. Sometimes I don’t even get to run – I stand still checking their form and that they’re ok while they do all the hard work and have all the fun.

They tell me about how much difference running with other people makes, how training together in the group makes them run faster and further, how it feels like less hard work and that it helps give them that push out the front door to know that I’m stood by the tube waiting for them, however cold and wet the weather is.

On Saturday I headed to the Hampstead Heath Parkrun with some of my runners. Though they’d run 5k in our last session together, heading to a race was daunting. Our groups are a safe environment – everyone is a beginner and in the same position. And if any passers by make stupid comments I’m always there to shout them down. But a race? There’s faster runners there. What if I come last? What if I can’t make it up the hill? These are feelings we’ve all had at some time or another.

But they did all make it up the hills, they all finished and more importantly they all finished with a smile on their faces. Because while they signed up for a 0-5k running course, my mission wasn’t just to show them how to run 5k, but to show them how to love running.

After the Parkrun I headed off to meet a few friends: Laura, Cat and Simon for a run around North London. I have no race to train for at the moment, no training plan to stick to and no mileage targets. It was a run for nothing else but fun and that’s exactly what it was. Four people running through woods, along trails and up hills for the sheer enjoyment of it. There’s a lot to love about running and there’s even more to love about doing it with friends.