Claire Esslemont

Claire joined HWR in January 2014, mainly to try and improve her fitness levels and be able to keep up with her family on their annual skiing holidays. The running definitely helped and she now enjoys the whole day, catching the last chair lift back with them, instead of sneaking back to the apartment for a rest after lunch. Funnily enough, Claire always found enough energy for the ‘apres-ski’! HWR has always made her feel very, very welcome and she has never looked back.

Soon after Claire found herself attending every club run, every week, so it seemed a natural progression to step up and become a run leader. The club then funded her UKA LiRF (Leader in Running Fitness) coaching qualification.

Claire’s favourite distance is 10k, although she has achieved a few 10 milers and 2 half marathons. She particularly likes the team endurance events and cross country races and tends to choose events that have a fun element to them, rather than always aiming for a race, personal best.

Claire joined the committee for Basingstoke Junior parkrun when it launched in September 2016, which she finds very rewarding, watching the confidence grow of our younger generations, whether they be running, jogging or walking.

She also really enjoys the ‘social’ aspect of running. All ability runs are Claire’s firm favourite, as they mean that she gets to meet and run with the majority of the club members, rather than just similar paced people. This, she believes, will be invaluable in her role of Female Welfare Officer and ‘On Boarding’ on the HWR committee.