Cassia Tierney Clarke x Puresport Run Club.
Richmond Park 10K Trail, October 20th. Cassia shares the deep personal connection she has with Richmond Park, a place that has offered her healing and hope through challenging times.
From meaningful encounters with deer that symbolise her journey toward sobriety, to the tattooed symbols that represent her Scottish roots and love for nature, Cassia discusses how Richmond Park became her sanctuary. As she prepares for the October 20th Richmond Park Trail event, she encourages participants to embrace the challenge and reminds them, “You are capable of so much more than you think you are.” Whether you’re running your first 10k or just beginning your journey, her words are a powerful reminder that the first step is always the hardest – but also the most important.
What is the importance of Richmond Park to you?
CASSIA:
Richmond Park is a park in London that’s probably the closest you could get to like real nature, I would say, in the city. And they have deer there, like stags. And in Scotland, we have deer as well. And the stag, I have a tattoo of a stag, but it’s always been a big symbol of hope. Throughout my journey, I’ve had crossovers with deer, so when I went back to Scotland, when I first tried to get sober, I saw a deer in the Highlands, a white deer. It’s amazing. Then I have this picture from lockdown. Me and Mum were on a walk where I’d had a really, really bad day before. I think I’d probably relapsed or something, just something had happened, and I didn’t feel good. So I went for a walk in Richmond Park and this young deer, I’ll find the picture for you, but this young deer just came right over to me and put her nose on my hand, like walked over and put her nose on my hand. And I think it was then that I thought, okay, that’s got to be some sort of sign. But also, this is so, so beautiful, and this is free, and I’m doing this, and I think I want to do this like every single day, if I can.
On the 20th of October, there’s going to be a bunch of people climbing up that hill at the end of the Richmond Park Trail.
Imagine you’re speaking to someone who’s doing their first 10k, and that’s the last climb that they have to make. They may be struggling – what would you say to them to get them to keep coming up that hill?
CASSIA: I would say, you are capable of so much more than you think you are.
We’ve got a sticker pack that’s full of different symbols and elements that reflect your journey. Talk to me about some of the iconography. What do they represent to you and why did you choose them as part of your brand?
CASSIA:
The horse because I run like a horse. The deer, the stag, I have a big tattoo here of a stag. This is for Scotland. For Scotland! I’ve got Scottish wildflowers around it as well, and an admiral butterfly here. This represents my Uncle and my Grandma. And then obviously the moon, because, I mean, the moon is so important, the cycles of the moon, and the cycles of the planets and my love for astrology and witchiness, I suppose. And I think what’s so surreal about seeing this together is that I can’t quite believe that a brand that is so into athletes would allow such creativity, but it’s really beautiful to see it come together.
And then, obviously, cowboy boots, because of my love of the West. Snakes, because my fiancé is a herpetologist and works with venomous snakes, and we have a venomous snake in the house if anyone wants to meet her later.
And the bird – this, well, this is Picasso. It’s based on Picasso, but this dove has always meant hope to me. And I think when I asked my community and people I meet what one word is that they think of, when they think of me, they always sayhope. And there’s also a poem calledHope is a Thing With Feathers, which is a really important poem to me. And then just a skull with a cowboy hat, because why not?
I think you’ve probably already inspired a lot of people to take action, maybe people in a position you were in three or four years ago. For someone who is on the fence, what would you say to them?
Cassia: I would say, if you don’t start, you’ll never know.
So if you don’t try, you’ll never know. And I think if you try to release a little bit of control around the outcome and just see this as, like, a really fun adventure that you’re going to really mess up, probably, then you have no idea where it will lead. But, you know, you will never know if you don’t try, so you may as well just try. There is no harm. It doesn’t have to be perfect but just try.
We look forward to seeing you on 20th October.
Team Puresport