Elaine Leitch: Scottish Women & Girls in Sport Week

It’s Scottish Women & Girls in Sport Week and we are shining a light on some of our fantastic female Jog Leaders.

First up, we spoke to Elaine Leitch from the Jiggly Joggers, a Glasgow-based group she started after feeling like there must be many more women like her who felt nervous or unable to join an established running group.

As it grew, she wanted to learn more about running and leading and became a Jog Leader in February 2019.

What made you want to become a jog leader?

I started Jiggly Joggers in Feb 2018 based on my fear of joining a running group. I thought there must be more woman like me in the local area, so why not set it up and see where it went.

As it grew, I decided to sign up to the Jog Leaders course so that I could learn a bit more about running and leading.

I wanted, and will always want, to be able to deliver the best sessions we can, promoting social running in mixed ability groups with a strong ethos of running together.

What is your favourite thing about being a jog leader?

My favourite thing about being a Jog Leader is Couch to 5K week 5 run 3! Hearing women say to me ‘I will never manage to run for 20 minutes’, then watching the sheer joy and disbelief that they have nailed it, it gets me every time and it’s moments like that I will always treasure.

Taking women who would never dream they could run for a bus and empowering them to run 5K, it’s life changing for some of our woman and as a Jog Leader it’s a joy to watch.

Why is it important to have women & girls in leadership positions?

All humans should be equal but we still see today that is not always the case.

In a world where social media dictates so much to our young people of how they should look and feel, having strong female role models is a positive step forward to showing you can be anything you want to be with hard work and determination.

What would you say to someone else thinking about becoming a jog leader?

Go for it! It is difficult, it can feel challenging, but ultimately it is rewarding.