THE latest event of a popular running courses for absolute beginners is being held in Rubery.

The popular Couch to 5k running courses for novices will be free in the village after a local coach trained under an official scheme.

Keen local runners were able to gain official status as running group organisers through a Run England Leadership in Running Fitness training course organised by Bromsgrove District Council in April - in return for running a free nine-week course of Couch to 5k in their community.

The new Rubery run is a result of this and will now be held on Thursdays at 9.30am from St Chad's Park. It is hoped that as in other areas, the Rubery group will continue long after the initial nine weeks.

Bromsgrove District Councillor Michael Webb, who is responsible for leisure, said: “It’s great to see the effect of the work that has been done to develop coaches so they can run their own events in the community. Couch to 5K has proven very popular, with several groups springing up across the area, and we will continue to back it as a great way for anyone that doesn’t run, but might want to run, to get started.”

Couch to 5k are structured nine-week running programs for absolute beginners. They include downloadable podcasts designed to structure each run with music and coaching to develop running technique, speed and stamina progressively over time. They are supported by the NHS and podcasts are available at nhs.uk or via iTunes, and there is an official app available free from Google play or the App Store.

For more details call Hayley Gwilliam in the district council’s sports development team on hayley.gwilliam@bromsgroveandredditch.gov.uk or 01527 881404.