Wet start for running club as cyclist pulled from river

FOUR women helped to rescue a female cyclist who fell into the river while out on a morning run.

Courtenay, 31, and Meaghan Barron-Cutts, 29, of St Andrew’s Road, founded Oumono Club and hosted their first running meet on Saturday , November 29.

While running along the towpath between Henley Bridge and Temple Island, a woman cyclist veered off into the River Thames to avoid an oncoming cyclist.

The Barron-Cutts sisters and two running club members, Amber Fane-Barrow and Lucy Mann, pulled the woman, a member of Upper Thames Rowing Club, from the water.

Courtenay described how the women threw their belongings to the side to enter the water to help.

She said: “A lady was cycling behind us before we got to Temple Island, while another cyclist was coming towards her.

“She veered out of the way and went straight into the river behind us.

“Lucy threw her phone and keys to the ground before we could even blink and submerged herself halfway into the water so we could shimmy her along to a shallower bit, so we could all grab a limb each to help haul the woman out of the water and get her bike out.”

After checking that the woman was okay, although “a bit shaken”, they joked about how they pulled her wellies off to pour out river water.

They insisted on staying with the woman to ensure she was okay before continuing their run back to the Daisy Love café in Henley from which they started their run.

Courtenay added: “We kept reiterating that the whole point of our women’s running club is to bring us together and that no one gets left on the sidelines. So, she rode with us before she started to get cold.”

The two sisters started the Oumono Club, which stands for outdoors, movement and nourishment, in Henley two weeks ago.

It first began as a surf camp in France six years ago, before expanding into worldwide surf retreats, including in Morocco and Indonesia.

Courtenay said: “I started the brand a year ago because building communities was something I loved, and I wanted to take women from location to location — it came quite naturally.

“Now, we do intermediate retreats in Morocco and advanced trips in the Mentawai Islands, which are led by female coaches, yoga instructors, chefs and photographers and hosted by women.”

The women have hosted skate meet-ups, charity fundraising yoga sessions, dinners and paddle outs.

Courtenay says being philanthropic is ingrained in her because of the surfing community ethos.

She said: “When you go to all these places, you don’t want to be an invasive tourist, you want to give back to the community and add to it rather than detract.”

Courtenay added: “A pinnacle moment was when there were 20-something women paddling out in perfect conditions, when we had dolphins come into the bay to enjoy their time with us. It was a magical moment and one woman even started crying.”

The inclusion of running clubs, headed by Meaghan, started in Newquay, in Cornwall, last year.

Since starting with six participants, the beach-based club has expanded and collaborated with other young female entrepreneurs, such as a local café and a yoga teacher, to provide sandy workout classes.

Meaghan said: “I’ve always done your average five or
10 kilometre runs whenever I was home as a way to clear my mind, especially down by the river. Getting out into the fresh air, particularly near any body of water, is my ideal.

“When I moved to Newquay, I wanted to find new friends but found it hard as I don’t particularly drink a lot, which makes it hard to meet people at this age.

“It was such a golden ticket when this formed, as I’ve made such solid friendships. Going for a run, swim, with cake and coffee afterwards, really ticks all the boxes of Oumono.”

The sisters will host morning run clubs every Saturday at Daisy Love in Station Road from 8.30am.