Our team caught up with Lorraine, who is a member of a local running group in Clacton-on-Sea, the Clacton Seafront Runners (CSRs). She is an influential member of the local running community, regularly acting as one of the run directors for the local Parkrun and one of the founding members of the CSRs. Lorraine is involved in arranging many of the club events and regularly shares anything that may be of interest to runners within the group.
Lorraine heard about Beat the Street through her connections with the local Parkrun. Beat the Street a game that transforms communities into playable cities and towns. She thought this would be of interest to the runners and circulated it among the group, leading to some of the other members also taking part. She believed playing may provide a good challenge, that could break up the monotony of just running along the seafront and that “tapping boxes” might make things more interesting!
Lorraine shared,“It made us go out and do lots, me and my husband did lots of walking which we probably wouldn’t have done. Our team was quite competitive so you felt like you had to up your game a little bit, to make sure you were doing your bit”
Playing Beat the Street caused her and her husband to go out even more than they would have usually. They were quite competitive and wanted to ensure they didn’t “let the side down”, determined to contribute to their team and help climb the leader board! The CSRs were very motivated to finish as high on the leader board as possible, so they could win prizes, which they could use to benefit the running group.
Lorraine felt playing had offered more benefits than just increasing how active she was. Before playing, Lorraine had not even heard of Essex Pedal Power (a local community free bike scheme) and felt playing had led to local groups meeting, connecting-up the community, which may not have happened without everyone’s involvement in the game. Through a desire to collect all the boxes, Lorraine also explored more of the local area, visiting places she may not have usually gone. Overall, Lorraine really enjoyed playing Beat the Street and would look forward to the opportunity to play again in the future.
More information about Beat The Street here
