The On 6am Club is about normal people with busy lives achieving some amazing things through early-morning runs. Each person has their own reason for running at the crack of dawn – high pressured jobs, busy family life – but the 6am Club is their common ground. The club runners have been sharing their stories with us, and this month we speak to Kojo, one of the founding members of the 6am Club, a dad-of-two and cardiac physiologist…
“I’ve always made time to run but the windows of opportunity are smaller these days so the morning 6am run is good opportunity to build my weekly mileage. Additionally the run home from work helps too. The more I can fit into these slots from Monday to Friday dictates how much I run at the weekend. I prefer to keep as much of the my weekends free for family time. So again if I have to run, I try to slot it in before the day gets going.
“I log my running in miles per week which can be 100-110miles when in full marathon preparation. This would acquaint to around 11-12 hours a per week depending on how fast I’m running. I find setting goals is an important part of staying motivated. I will once again look to better my personal bests from 10K to marathon on the road. I am also considering the World Masters Track and Field Champs in Malaga 2018, competing in the 10,000 and 5000m.
“Scott Overall and I ran together whilst fellow ON Ambassador Kevin Quinn was injured. We had been out running at the same time but on different routes. It seemed to make sense to keep each other company. Kevin returned from injury and joined us. We knew of other runners in the area and Kevin Quinn (he knows everyone) recruited more runners, including another ON Ambassador Steph McCall, and many others who were members of his running club. I believe the record number on any 6am run has been nine or 10.
“Running in a group is not only a fun way of getting the miles it’s also safer in numbers. Exercise in the morning gives you a vitality and sets you up for the day.”
As a cardiac physiologist, Kojo has solid advice for looking after your heart health. “Know your family history and how this impacts on your risk of heart disease. Also listen to your body. Pain and unusual levels of shortness of breath is the body way of telling you something is wrong.”
For more tips from Kojo, check out his column on p15 of the February issue of Men’s Running.
Join the On 6am Club STRAVA group here, and share your 6am run photos with On @ON_RUNNING #6amclubuk
Visit on-running.com for shoes that will put some fun into your early morning run.
