Among the 4,000 runners who participated in this 5k was the University team of València 'UVSostenibilitat Runners', who closed their first participation with very good feelings and with great motivation to continue improving in the next tests.

On Sunday, February 12, the eighth edition of the 'Never Stop Running race was held in Valencia. Never give up’. This is the first popular race in which UVsostenibilitat Runners participated as a group from the University of Valencia, within the framework of the University Program Healthy UV. The 5K started at 9 in the morning on Avenida de Francia and ran along the seafront of Valencia.

In the team classification UVsostenibilitat Runners finished in 95th position, "it is a great place considering that there are more than 700 teams registered; but in the end our goal is not to win races but to acquire healthy habits and improve health and quality of life," explains the UVsostenibilitat Runners coach Pablo Jiménez Jiménez (Physical and Sports Education Department). 

Up to a total of 16 members of the UV participated in this race: Joaquín Galiana (Department of Research Methods and Diagnosis in Education), Elena Viqueira (Library and Documentation Service), José Manuel Pastor (Department of Economic Analysis), Ascensión Doñate (Polibenestar), Ramón Llopis (Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology), Roc Ros (Department of Plant Biology), María Cebrián (Physiology Department), María José Gimeno (Library and Documentation Service), Yamileth Hernández (Research Management Service), Rosa Rutea (International Relations and Cooperation Service), Mireia Coscollà (Institute of Integrative Systems Biology), Diego Ramírez Muñoz (Electronic Engineering Department), José Ignacio Valenzuela Ríos (Botany and Geology Department), Vicente Cerverón Lleó (Computer Science Department), Jordi Muñoz Mari (Electronic Engineering Department) and Ricardo Ferris Castell (Computer Science Department).

The UVsostenibilitat Runners group is made up of personnel from different groups of the UV (PAS, PDI, PIF), who joined the team with the aim of starting to practice running and improving their health and quality of life. The team members know the great importance that practicing sports activity has to maintain good mental and physical health; Unfortunately, in some situations work and family pressures can limit the time we can dedicate to taking care of our health. For this reason, the Vice-rectorate for Sustainability, Cooperation and Healthy Living, together with the Sports Service, launched this initiative aimed at bringing and facilitating the practice of healthy physical activity to its staff.

“So far we have been focused on getting them started in the practice of running in an appropriate way, instilling good practices such as warming up “Before starting to train, learn to regulate the intensity, hydrate during practice, breathe correctly and perform exercises to calm down correctly,” adds the coach. 

“We have been training for a very short time, we started in January and they have improved a lot,” says Pablo Jiménez. "The main objective throughout the season is for everyone to be encouraged to participate in the races. My intention as a coach is to give them the preparation they need so that they dare to try, it doesn't matter if it is competitive or non-competitive, the important thing is to participate and acquire healthy living habits," says the professor at the Faculty of Physical Activity and Sports Sciences.

The next race in which UVsostenibilitat Runners will participate will be the 'Carrera Solidària Anem més enllà’, which will be held on March 25 in Alboraia.  "The team of runners faces this new event with great motivation, they finished last Sunday's race with a great taste in their mouths, many men and women did not believe they were capable of completing the 5 kilometers running and they achieved it, so the next event they will be more prepared physically and mentally, and they will surely have even more fun," concludes Pablo Jiménez.

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