Running is supposedly cool right now, but it didn’t feel that way at 6.15am in Harrogate this morning (October 23) when the rain was lashing down.

There was certainly a buzz, though, as the biggest crowd ever assembled by the Early Bird Run Crew gathered for one of the more unusual events in this year’s Raworth’s Harrogate Literature Festival.

Newsreader Sophie Raworth, a keen runner, was in town for the festival and in between hosting a literary lunch and visiting Up and Running on Station Parade, had agreed to take part in a five-kilometre jog called Raworth Runs.

Shortly before 6.30am, she joined about 100 of us huddled under the canopy outside Bettys and posed for photos before setting off.

We followed one of the regular routes of the Early Bird Run Crew, which fitness and mental wellbeing campaigner Ben Davis founded in 2019. The informal group meets at 6.30am every weekday in the town centre for free 5k runs. A splinter group, for whom 6.30am starts are too wimpy, now also sets off at 6am.

Group members, who have organised the run in partnership with the festival, all comment on its positive impact on their lives. “It’s like a wonder drug that helps me get through the day,” says one.

The crew usually consists of about 10 people, so this is off the scale. Sophie is the first famous name to take part, and she could hardly be more suitable.

Besides her Harrogate connection — she’s the great granddaughter of Edwin Raworth, who founded Harrogate law firm Raworths — she is a keen runner. 

She took up running in her 40s and has gone from collapsing in her first London Marathon in 2011 and finishing in 6 hours 22 minutes to recording a remarkable time of three hours and 36 minutes this year days before her 58th birthday. She’s also completed a parkrun in an impressive 21 minutes and 37 seconds.

What’s more, she’s also a great sport, chatting to everyone and posing for numerous selfies and group shots.

We set off through town and splash our way along a sodden loop that takes in Otley Road and Cold Bath Road. “Shoes become meaningless after a while,” says one fellow runner.

We grab a quick word with Sophie who says despite her local connection, she hasn’t visited the town that often. But she’s full of praise for Up and Running and says that’s why she agreed to work in a visit after the morning run.

Post-run coffee is part of the routine. “We must have pumped millions into Caffe Nero,” says one regular. However, Caffe Nero wasn’t open this morning, so we troop to the Cornish Bakery on James Street where copies of Sophie’s book, Running on Air, are for sale.

Sophie is one of the last to arrive because she’s busy talking to runners who have formed a queue for selfies. There’s a gang from Wetherby Runners and, appropriately, Raworths.

Literature festivals are supposed to be about cosy rooms, comfortable chairs and thoughtful conversations. This one was wild and wet. And it may just have been the most joyful event of them all.

Raworths Harrogate Lietrature Festival runs until Sunday. More details here.