Advantages of Belonging to a Running Club
There are many advantages to belonging to a Running Club. Here are just a few:-
- It’s safer to run with an organised group, rather than on your own.
- Clubs are not only made up of elite runners. Caerleon RC has a range of abilities, and there is probably someone there just like you.
- For only £15 a year you have full insurance cover for when you run.
- Clubs can offer lots of variety with the types of runs and different locations.
- If you are interested in team or individual competition, clubs offer a range of options. Caerleon RC enters teams in summer road races and winter cross-country, as well as facilitating individual places in races ranging from marathons to triathlons to 5 kilometre dashes. But there is no compunction to enter races, and plenty don’t.
- Clubs have members with years of running experience. So there is always someone who can advise on important items such as injury treatment, injury prevention, training routines, clothing and footwear, diet and race preparation.
- Running clubs tend to attract very down-to-earth people as members. There is plenty of spirit, fun and camaraderie amongst runners. Given the sacrifice and discomfort that anyone who runs has to cope with, there is invariably a special bond of friendship and mutual support between members of running clubs.
- Most clubs have a social side to complement their running activities.
- Clubs’ annual membership fees tend to be very reasonable (£15 at Caerleon with special rates for certain circumstances).
- Caerleon has a relaxed approach to recruiting potential new recruits. Anyone can come along to two or three club nights, at no cost, and take part in sessions before deciding if joining the club is right for them.
So, supposing you have read all of the above, you have become accustomed to running and you want to get better at it. You would like to see if membership of a running club would work for you ……… what should you expect when you go along to a Club for a trial?
Using Caerleon RC as an example, our club nights are 7.00 –
8.00 pm every Tuesday and Thursday. All of our sessions start and finish at the
Sports Centre,
Most sessions involve a run for about an hour. In the lighter evenings there are about 6 regular routes taken which go into the beautiful surrounding countryside, and on the darker nights we are restricted to 3 main routes under street lighting.
The courses listed in the next section are mostly about 6 miles long, but each circuit can easily be extended or reduced on the night to suit individual runners’ needs.
Caerleon Running Club
October 2005