Tips and Benefits to Joining a Run Club

5 Benefits of Joining a Local Running Club

1. Fun and motivation

   Many people find running alone to be boring and tedious. Running with others can make the time pass quicker and the miles seem shorter. When you run with people who have similar goals, you’ll find yourself being motivated for each run. There’s also a factor of accountability that will make you stick to your training plan since there are now others counting on you to show up.

2. Pushing yourself more

   When you see others running faster or farther than you, it will inspire you to pick up the pace and push yourself to a new distance. Running with others can make you work harder than you would when running alone. It’s natural for runners to see their pace gradually improve simply by keeping up with running friends during group runs.

3. Creating new friendships

   Running in a group is a great way to meet new people. If you’ve moved to a new area or recently developed an interest in running, joining a group can help you meet like-minded people with similar interests. Have you ever tried talking about your long run with a non-runner friend? It was likely much less exciting than chatting about your training with running club buddies.

4. Safety

   Not to scare anyone who prefers to run alone! You never know when an injury may arise, or an external factor may present danger. If you’re running in a group, someone will always be there to lend a hand.

5. Learn and improve your technique

   Running with more experienced runners allows you to pick up on things that may be difficult to learn on your own. Are you curious about your stride, how to fuel, or race-related questions? Seek out the leader(s) of the group, and surely, they’d be happy to impart wisdom.

5 Steps to Joining A Run Group

1. Show Up: When you start running, the first key is simply putting on your shoes…then getting out the door. Guess what, it’s basically the same process here! You have to simply choose to show up. Put it in your calendar and do it. Worst case scenario you’ve stumbled upon an awful group and never have to go back.

2. Assume the Best: Just like going in to a run with a positive attitude makes it better, the same can be said of trying to insert yourself in a new group! Remember you’re all there for the same reason: you love running and want to do it with others.

3. Find a Leader: If you’re too nervous to just chat up someone in the group then look for a group leader. They will be able to tell you about the different pace groups so you can ensure you’re running with people at a similar speed.

4. Engage with Other Runners: A few ideas for questions to ask as conversation starters:

   “what pace are you running?”

   “have you run with this group before?”

   “do you have any races coming up?”

   “have you done any races lately?”

   Any of these will start a conversation and if you happen to be chatting up a different level runner, they will happily point you to a few people in the group that are your pace before the run begins.

5. Kiss a Few Frogs: Running groups can be a little like dating. You may need to test out a few different ones to find a good fit. If you feel excluded or have a bad experience at one, remember it’s just one! There are so many more.

Running Club Recruitment Tips

Reddit Responses to the Question: What would bring you to weekly casual runs and keep you engaged in a running club?

1. What would bring me and keep me engaged: VERY CLEAR INFO ON DISTANCES AND PACES ON THE CLUB WEBSITE OR WHATEVER, near where I live, runners at my pace, social activities after or before the runs, and runners who I can connect with. If I don’t like the other runners I’m not coming back. And if it is not very clear what level(s)and pace(s) the club is then I’m not coming in the first place.

2. Brewery and Coffee runs tend to attract a wide variety of ages and paces, not to mention a good incentive and reward for getting out and running. Regularly scheduled runs are a plus and I’d recommend networking at races and other local run clubs to find interested people.

3. My number one reason for not joining a group is if their only/primary form of communication is through Facebook. If you have a FB page that’s fine but I want to be able to stay in the loop without it. Lots of younger folks are dropping Facebook or use it very infrequently, so expanding to additional platforms is a good way to bring in younger runners.

4. A club should exist to provide a service to local runners, to provide an atmosphere for the to support each other and to become the runners they want to be, be that running a BQ or just being a social runner. In order to get people along to a running club they need to know what the purpose of the club is, what they can expect to gain from it and what the core ethos of the club is.

Your Daily Dose Of Usain⚡️

Words To Run By 🏃‍♀️🏃🏽‍♂️

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