We walk for 90 minutes before breakfast
Fitting in exercise can be tough when you’re a busy working mum, but GP Vivienne Birch, 40, is motivated by the thought of the banter and buzz she’ll have with her early-morning walking pals: Ann, 57, Pam, 65, Michelle, 58, and Mel, 46. ‘We call ourselves the
Pikers,’ she says, ‘and two or three times a week we set off in the dark to hike to Hartshead Pike, in Ashton-under-Lyne.
‘We met through the much larger Failsworth Walking Group, which now has 2,000 members from all over the region. We still do the main group walks and other adventures, but we’re a little offshoot group who are willing to set off at the unearthly hour of 5.30am for our four-mile “hike to the pike”.
‘The group was born in 2019, and wow, did it save us all through the pandemic lockdowns?! There are no holds barred with our chatter, and the walking and talking is pure magic.
‘Walking so early means I go to work boosted’
‘It can be hard to drag ourselves out on dark winter mornings. But it still beats not walking at all before work – and it definitely helps with my winter blues.
‘My kids are only six and eight, and walking for 90 minutes while they’re still in bed is a winner. I wouldn’t have time after work.
‘And walking so early means I go to work boosted, happy and laughing at what the Pikers have discussed, and that transfers into a happier version of me, and definitely impacts on how I work.
‘I’ve been referred to as a breath of fresh air and a rainbow. And I can now personally tell patients the benefits of getting out moving, talking, seeing the sky and hearing the leaves. Nothing beats it!’