We want to say a big thank you to Andreas Short and his girlfriend Tiegan Coote, runners who are fundraising and spreading awareness of Autism Together as they run.
 
Andreas and Tiegan are two of the many runners out there who are helping Autism Together. If you’re interested in running for us, please get in touch. Every pound raised helps.
 
We caught up with Tiegan and Andreas recently and asked why they have chosen to support us through running…
 
Why did you choose to run for Autism Together?
 
Tiegan – We both chose Autism Together because it looked like you offered more for people with autism compared to other charities. There were always posts on Facebook and the website seemed to be updated regularly.
 
What is your background? ie – what started your interest in running, what do you enjoy most about it?
 
Tiegan – My sister suggested we all took part in the Normandy Hall Adventure 10k. When doing it, Andreas ran off and left us behind because he was enjoying it. Then his colleagues at work started a big fitness regime and he decided to join in as he was enjoying the 10k with us.
 
Andreas – I like going running for the fitness side and it passes time. It gives me something to do and I can challenge friends to keep up to certain timings.
 
Tiegan – I personally think he enjoys the fact he can just challenge himself into doing better and beating targets. A few times he has been running and caught people up, then tried encouraging them to go faster and get personal bests.
 
Which runs and events have you taken part in so far?
 
Tiegan –
 
Yorkshire Wildlife 5k
Curly’s Athletes – Normandy Hall 10k Adventure Race
Broughton Burn 10k
Bubble Rush 5k
Gung-Ho! Inflatable 5k
 
Also, we have two upcoming events, Race 4 Life and Yorkshire Wildlife 5k.
 
What do you think about whilst running? What spurs you on when you’re finding it hard?
 
Andreas – I’m not sure, I enjoy catching up with people in front. I always get excited when I get my times back from a Park Run or some other event and I’ve got a new personal best.
 
What is your personal experience with autism?
 
Tiegan – Andreas suffers from mild autism. He was diagnosed when he was young. He gets confused really easily, even with simple things like calculating numbers. He struggled more with maths and English mainly during school, but struggled with other subjects as well.
 
Why is it important to raise awareness of autism?
 
Tiegan – There are people who struggle more than he does, and he believes that if people were more aware of autism they would feel more confident to access help and assistance from family, friends and specialists when they need it.
 
Keep up the great work guys and thanks for all the fundraising you’ve done so far.