Broughton Women player Ruth Morgan ran 18 miles around each of the seven Edinburgh rugby clubs that have a women’s team on Sunday (6th Dec.). Joined by teammates and players from other teams for the run, with Heriot’s Blues Women joining to and from Goldenacre, Ruth set herself the challenge to raise awareness for women’s rugby.
Teams that took part in the run included: Broughton Women, Lismore Ladies, Liberton, Watsonians, Corstorphine Cougars, Edinburgh University and Heriot’s Blues Women.
The women’s rugby teams in Edinburgh were scheduled to play each other in a modified competition during the Autumn but this was cancelled along with the rest of the domestic season due to Covid-19.
Ruth is an avid runner, who has had many of her long-distance races cancelled as well as the rugby season.
“I plotted the route and 18 miles seemed like the perfect sort of challenge,” she said.
“Women’s rugby is a fast-growing sport in the UK and around the world. We’re lucky in Edinburgh to have so many teams at all different levels, but not everyone knows what’s available.
“We want to promote the sport of women’s rugby in general, but also showcase what Edinburgh has to offer if people are thinking of trying rugby or they’re looking for a good sport to watch on a Sunday afternoon.”
Like Heriot’s Blues Women, Broughton Women have been challenged by a very different rugby season with cancelled games, socially distanced training and keeping in touch virtually, in line with current Covid-19 guidelines.
“The team has been amazing, throughout lockdown we continued with twice weekly training on Zoom with different team members leading the sessions, we had everything from Pilates and dance, to burpee and running challenges. It kept everyone motivated and team spirit has been high,” Ruth said.
“At the moment we can only do individual training with no contact, while maintaining social distancing so running is perfect and as a lot of the teams are training on Sunday it’s a great addition to the training programme.
“I was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm shown by all the teams to get involved, nobody told me it was mad, though some may have thought it!”
Top image credit ‘Rugby People’.
