ForgetTheGym started out in 2006 when, just for fun, Mary Jennings started coaching family and friends to enjoy running. As they started to feel the benefits and then tell their friends, Mary decided to leave her ‘proper job’ and launch ForgetTheGym. Since then Mary and her wonderful coaches have been helping runners all over Ireland (and online) to start running, keep running and most importantly feel good running.

Today Mary is joined at ForgetTheGym by coach Aoife Slater. Both mums of young children Mary and Aoife are mad about running, but they are normal – they certainly have days when they struggle with motivation or making the time to go for a run! They understand it is hard. They don’t shout, scream or scare you off running, instead their aim is to get you started, build your running confidence and keep you motivated and inspired to keep on running.

Founder and Coach – Mary Jennings

A relative late comer to exercise, Mary understands what it’s like not to feel ‘sporty’ and has a loves building confidence in new runners and helping people reach their running goals. She has plenty practise on the roads herself having completed over 40 marathons and ultramarathons.

Mary is the author of the book ‘Get Running’ published on 2019. She is a regular columnist with The Irish Times on all things running and a frequent voice on radio, television and print.

Mary is one of the few ChiRunning instructors in Ireland and holds an MSc is Sports and Exercise Psychology.

As well as working with individual and groups, Mary has presented at corporate wellness events. Clients include: Aer Lingus, AVIVA, Accenture, PwC, The Irish Times, Thrive Festival, JP Morgan, Deloitte and Virgin Media.

Coach - Aoife Slater

Just like Mary, Aoife discovered running as an adult and has seen it transform not only her appearance but also her lifestyle.

From being a self-confessed overweight and unfit couch potato, things changed in 2009 she built up slowly from walking to running 10k and hasn’t looked back. She truly caught the running bug, qualified as a personal trainer in 2011 and has since replaced the 9-5 office job with running shoes.

From parkruns to marathons, Aoife has seen running change her body and her mindset and today coaches our runners who need support, motivation and a gentle nudge in the right direction. She is a keen foam roller advocate but lucky for us she also enjoys baking yummy post run treats, and we all get to benefit from her culinary skills.

Aoife is ensuring her love for running is passed on to the next generation as she encourages her children to enjoy junior parkrun on Sunday mornings.

Our Running Community

We are most proud of the community of runners that have helped create our ForgetTheGym family over the years.

The camaraderie and support knows no bounds. Behind the scenes our running family keep each other motivated and inspired via our private forums, pop-up events and of course the personal friendship bonds which have been created over the years.

You might see us at races and events in our Running Chick and Chick Magnet gear. Read more about our running community.