CELEBRATIONS and pride in achievement were the order of the day this morning (Sunday, 12 March) as novice runners completed a fitness challenge by completing a 5K run.

The 'Couch to 5K' programme was run by Chafford Hundred Running Group and supported by the Lakeside Decathlon store and Thurrock CVS.

The organiser and driving force was Mary Mcloughlin  who said: "We started 'Couch to 5km on 9 January and have had a great response with novice runners coming to try it out for the first time.

"We are volunteers who take groups out we meet near All Saints Church on Mondays and Wednesdays at 7pm. We have been lucky to obtain a Sparks grant from Thurrock CVS which we have used to buy medals and support the runners and Decathlon have come on board to support us with T-shirts, goodie bags and even some vouchers.

"Today ws the culmination of the programme and it's been great. I was very proud of our runners who achieve their 5K goal today, I just hope they carry on running."

You can find out more about Chafford Hundred Running Group via their Facebook page.