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Supporting Women Runners
Samantha Richards is a long time runner and since moving to Hiroshima she has sought ways to
make it easier for women runners to support each other and train together. She has put in a lot of hard work
and has now started a club especially for Hiroshima's women runners.
 Could you tell us a bit about yourself?
I'm from England, a place called Cornwall. It's the furthest county west of the country, and if you're
English you'll now be thinking I'm Cornish. The people and the place are a little bit different from the
rest of the country. Cornwall is this beautiful county that has beaches, forests, and moors,
well everything apart from shopping malls and nightlife!!
When did you start running?
I first started running 18 years ago and enjoyed running around Cornwall for a good many years until
I moved to Hiroshima 5 years ago. It was all by accident, I did well in a school
race and the local running club asked me to join. Running was my life from the age of 12-16 really.
I have fond memories of going away with the club all over the country. I never used to win anything, but
I was one of these athletes, jack of all trades master of none. Sometimes I would do 10 events in a day,
but it was great fun. Then I slipped away from the track and into the bars for a few years, but took it up
again at university.
 What do you do when your not running?
I've been living and working happily as an English teacher for a great company called Art Lingual.
When I'm not working, my main interest is obviously running, but I also enjoy cycling and this year will
attempt both the Kurahashi Aquathon and a triathlon. I hear myself saying to women who say they can't run "Oh you
could if you tried", well I'm the same about swimming, so it's time to know what it feels like to try
something new. I also recently started joining in on Monday evening football in Chuokoen,
it really is female friendly and the lads are great to play with.
Reading this maybe you have an image of some fitness freak, but it couldn't be further from the truth.
I think there was one point last year where I was grateful for a race on Sunday as it kept me out the bar
Saturday night! I pretty much select which races to do around other things going on in my life. I think
with exercise, as with most things in life, the most important thing is to enjoy it.
If taking it seriously and winning gives you enjoyment then that's great and there is a huge amount of
satisfaction in winning (so they say) and breaking personal bests. However, there is also much to be
gained just by taking part. l
Why did you want to start the running club for women?
 After coming here I ran alone for 2 years without competing. Although I
knew there
was a running shop in Hiroshima, I didn't have confidence in my Japanese to go and find out about the
running community in Hiroshima. Most of the races seemed to be in the countryside and too difficult to get
to. Once I did pluck up the courage to go, I managed to get more information about races and found other
people to go with.
Late last year I decided I wanted to set up some kind of service to help foreigners interested in running.
Then after hearing women being told to go to the outside at the start of one race and being on the
receiving end of comments about my size, I decided I wanted to start some kind of running club only for
women. I wanted to provide women in Hiroshima, of all nationalities, a place to train with other women in a
comfortable environment where the emphasis is on participation whatever their level.
So I set up Hiroshima Women Runners (HWR).
Although HWR is a women's running club, I still want it to act as a source of information for all foreigners
interested in running. Therefore, anyone, male or female can mail the club for a copy of a race calendar
for all races in the area.
Furthermore, if anyone needs a lift to races, they can join in the Car Share
network so we can help people get to races. I would like to build on the running community that already
exists here, a community that is made up of both men and women. I hope to do that by offering certain
services to all groups and a few extra to the currently underrepresented ones (women).
Come and visit us at hiroshimawomenrunners.blogspot.com
Related articles and links
jjwalsh
May 2006 | 
