From setting up beginner-friendly running groups to launching parkrun in the town, Marion Hemsworth has spent the last 15 years making running accessible to the Haywards Heath community, and her latest project could transform how our community stays active for years to come. Here she talks about her life and love of running.
By Lydia Turner
Marion’s journey to Mid Sussex began in the north of England where she was born in Warrington and brought up in Manchester. It was her passion for teaching that brought her south to attend university in London where she completed a teaching qualification. Marion and her husband then made the move to Mid Sussex, initially living in Ardingly before settling in Haywards Heath where she and her husband brought up their three children. Marion taught maths in schools around Sussex for most of her career, before moving into education management and working as an advisor at the Open University. She finished her career at Haywards Heath College from where she retired in 2010.
In her 30s, Marion dabbled with running, but it wasn’t until she turned 50 that she really found her pace, joining Haywards Heath Harriers and discovering her love of running. Marion said that she started playing squash and then discovered that she was better at the running bit in the squash court than she was at hitting the ball. Running is obviously a passion for Marion. What draws people to running, she believes, is its accessibility. “You don’t have to be a certain standard to run. There’s no entry requirement. You don’t need a team. It fits really well around bringing up children as a way of keeping fit.” For Marion, the appeal goes beyond physical fitness. “I like the fact it’s freedom. And it does make you feel good afterwards, that endorphin boost works for everybody, really. But I also love the social side. We visit park runs around the country with my family, and afterwards you have a coffee, you’ve done something, but now let’s chat, let’s socialise, pick up on everybody’s gossip.”
Marion has had several roles within Haywards Heath Harriers over the years and currently serves as the secretary. What started as simply running with the club gradually evolved into take on the administrative side as well. In 2010, Marion and a friend became aware that there was a group of people who didn’t run with Harriers because they felt that it was too competitive them and that they might not be able to reach the standard set by other members, so Marion and her friend Julie set up a more recreational running group for beginners and the less experienced, not so motivated, not so competitive runners, called J&M Running, which is now well established within the town.
Marion explained how J&M Running also venture out of the town, with trips to the north of the country, back to where Marion was brought up. “We did a Blackpool Lights run, because that area was where we used to go as a family with my mum and dad to Blackpool and the St Anne’s. A group of us also ran the Copenhagen Half last year with Berlin this year for some. We get around!”
Not content with her involvement in both Haywards Heath Harriers and J&M Running, Marion was determined to put her beliefs into action. Convinced that running is an accessible social activity, good for mental and physical health and open to as many people as possible, she threw herself into helping set up a parkrun in the town. Clair parkrun began in 2014, attracting good numbers of people on a Saturday morning and this was also followed by another parkrun at Wakehurst, further expanding opportunities for local people to become involved in the sport that Marion loves.
To read Marion’s full story, please pick up your copy of Haywards Heath Life through all of March.