My local running club is everything that is wrong with local running culture

This is how I approached this issue. IF you are competitive and want to run faster, do some faster group runs, maybe get real crazy and hit the track at some point; meet and talk to people you see at races. The people that you are racing are probably in a similar situation and they are looking for the same thing.

Super easy to start a FB page and post the plan for a Sat fast finish long run, or a tempo day during the week etc.

You started this thread to bash others but the real issue is you. You want some running club to do all the work and your lazy tail just shows up with a built in training group.

Find some old guys and slightly less old women who are competitive and you might be a good match for running interests and pace.

There might be informal groups that would welcome you- the poster who suggested finding (pace, not age/gender) peers at races had a good idea.

Find another club or run or train on your own. What you describe is not unique to running. The same group of people will speak of the same things regardless of the social setting. If you really want to run with faster guys, approach the local collegiate club team.

runfasta wrote:

What city are you referencing? No specifics to call them out?

Sometimes running shoe stores don't have a "club" but host sponsored runs, and these can be more competitive that clubs sometimes.

Most of the best clubs for all ability levels are ones that have decent master clubs. Old guys still trying to hold on.

Overall Best Running Club Cities (In no order). If you don't live in one of these, then good luck.

1. Portland OR

2. San Francisco CA

3. Boston MA

4. Atlanta GA

5. Seattle WA

6. Minneapolis MN

7. Denver/Boulder CO

8. St. Louis

Problem with the club I run in now, is it seems to be aging out. If we don't get some younger ( and that could be even under 50) runners we're going to be hosed fairly soon. Anyone have suggestions of ways to get younger runners to come out? Not sure we're doing anything in particular to attract people.

Fastest dude in the club wrote:

Not A Therapist... wrote:

There are a lot more runners in the 8 minute to 10 minute mile range than there are sub 8 minute mile.

Finally, a poster here who understands how slow the Average Joe actually is, and draws the line at 8 minutes rather than 5 minutes for the mile.

How would the average LRC elitist snob even be able to stand such clubs? According to them, a 5:01 dude is a pathetic hobby jogger who has no future since he can't even break 5 minutes for the mile. But in real life, most of these hobby joggers can't even break 8 minutes.

Welcome to the real world outside LRC.

The fastest group in our local (.75 million population) fleet feet is the 9min pace group with like 3 people. Then you have much larger groups at 90sec intervals. In the south...8min pace is super fast!

Running Club Expert wrote:

runfasta wrote:

What city are you referencing? No specifics to call them out?

Sometimes running shoe stores don't have a "club" but host sponsored runs, and these can be more competitive that clubs sometimes.

Most of the best clubs for all ability levels are ones that have decent master clubs. Old guys still trying to hold on.

Overall Best Running Club Cities (In no order). If you don't live in one of these, then good luck.

1. Portland OR

2. San Francisco CA

3. Boston MA

4. Atlanta GA

5. Seattle WA

6. Minneapolis MN

7. Denver/Boulder CO

8. St. Louis

9. Stockton, CA

It's true. The person who runs the 6:00-8:00 mile is faster than 95% of the population. May seem slow to committed/trained runners, but in reality, those times indicate a good level of fitness for the average American.

I went to a fun run in Boulder years ago and Jason Hartmann was there running close to 6:00 pace with some other fast guys. Your experience has not been my experience. Also, Boulder is only something like 42% owner occupied so doubt they’d talk that much about the housing market. Most fun runs though throughout the country people just want to jog and talk about the pizza available at the end. My advice would be to use fun runs as shakeout recovery runs for extra easy miles and not to rely on them for finding anyone to train seriously with. You can probably talk to your local store owner and ask if they know any groups in the area

I have something very similar. Almost nobody to run with me when I go out running with the local running. Not going super hard either. I try to slow it down to 8 minute pace and still no one can keep up. Half tempted to start my own running club. Any thoughts/ suggestions? Thinking about making it where my running club has a time trial to get in. Like it's crazy, just going out for a 10 mile run for just your evening run is mind blowing to these people. And some how they think going 6 minute mile pace is fast.

You are about 30 years too late in joining that club. if it were 1988, your 7 min pace would fit in nicely with the mid packers.

But i feel your pain. Your mentality is now the norm and the running clubs have had to adapt or die.

The running club i'm involved with used to be hard core. Everyone wanted to get faster. Training plans were hotly debated, training was focused on specific races because there wasn't one every weekend. Over the years, the club has had to change to fit the members or it would have drifted out of existence. For one, how do you plan weekly workouts when everyone has a different goal race? People who are serious now hire their own coaches since a generic plan doesn't work for everyone. People are slower. i chuckle at what people consider fast these days. The races the club puts on have to have a medal an swag or people won't enter it and the club looses it's ass. So you are the minority now and the clubs can't cater to the minority.

So, you have to just look at it like going to the bar to meet people. Keep going out there and you will eventually find some like minded people to branch off with and do your own workouts.

rolling with it wrote:

But i feel your pain. Your mentality is now *NOT* the norm and the running clubs have had to adapt or die.

Have you thought about taking 2 weeks off and quitting?

Run For Your Life wrote:

Running Club Expert wrote:

8. St. Louis

9. Stockton, CA

10. Raleigh/Durham, NC

Find a good running store and see if they have some sort of store team. Here in the NC Triangle, there are several running stores, each with their own contingent of runners who your paces would fit right in with. As others have mentioned, sometimes it takes a critical mass of competitive masters runners to up the overall level. For example, on one of the store teams in Durham, NC, there are at least 8-10 masters runners who are sub-3:00 marathoners (at least 3 of whom have gone sub-2:40 in recent years). Weekly training runs are typically in the 7 min/mile range, and they take teams to things like US Club XC Championships.

FWIW, there are also many running groups in the area like those OP describes. But the more competitive people are there if you know where to look for them.

So start your own club. That's what I did. It's hard, but rewarding so far.

Move to England. We have a proper running scene. And proper cross country races.

Moran’s FFS wrote:

What’s the colour make-up at the basketball courts?

Sick of these STUPID posts. Morans.

What’s the color make-up at the front of the pack in faster road races? Same as at the basketball courts huh?

Morans.

sdfjkkljkjksadfsfjklsklsfjklfajkljkl wrote:

Problem with the club I run in now, is it seems to be aging out. If we don't get some younger ( and that could be even under 50) runners we're going to be hosed fairly soon. Anyone have suggestions of ways to get younger runners to come out? Not sure we're doing anything in particular to attract people.

Same thing happened to the aforementioned Boulder Road Runners. Whatever the factors, they couldn't attract and retain the interest of new generations of runners and their competitive core was, one decade to the next, 40+ then 50+ now 60+ and soon 70+. They hold open Sunday runs yet the standard response you get from younger runners who check them out is that the main group at those runs tended to act suspicious of and snobby to outsiders who aren't in their demographic. It's a shame because, like many responses here, you'd think people would realize runners are runners and could connect easily. An insular attitude is a problem that affect any community and culture, not just running. It's exactly why Boulder Road Runners are a nonfactor in Boulder today and are dying on the vine before everyone's eyes.

For the OP, if you have local running stores that host fun runs then you could exploit that avenue to start your own thing. Use SM and message boards at the stores to promote forming a group, have that group piggyback on those fun runs to connect socially then meet for workouts and long runs regularly at other times. Talk it up with faster runners you see at races, too. You might have to keep at it for a while before gaining real traction, but it's worth trying as there probably are several others in your area in the same boat.

Running clubs are just a reflection of the racing scene. During the first running boom, it was very common for local races to have prize money. Also, there were very few runners who were training full time. It was a big deal when guys like Bill Rogers could compete professionally without working a day job. So, back then, there were a lot of runners who kept running after college either to make some cash on the weekends or with the aspiration of winning bigger races and becoming a full time pro. Naturally, these runners started running clubs to pool resources for coaching, track privileges and to do team competitions. So, back in the day, running clubs were loaded with fast guys.

Flash forward to the end of the running boom and the domination of E. Africans. Now, there are fewer and fewer local races offering prize money. The pro scene is dominated by full time runners who all congregate in a few training Meccas. Running clubs are taken over by mostly experience runners, people who make running a social activity and go to marathons more for the experience than time accomplishments. Fewer and fewer fast runners from college stick with it because races have no prize money and there is no way to get to the pro level without being in one of the few elite training groups in Boulder, Portland, Flagstaff, etc.

So, today, if you are looking to run with some folks who will challenge you, you have to go out and get your own group going. Next time you are at a race, get to know some of the folks who are a bit faster and slower than you and see whether they are interested in getting together for workouts and long runs. I am in a huge city with a bunch of running clubs and that is how the sub 3 to sub elite folks have been doing it. It is pretty rare to find more than a handful of faster runners in the local running clubs these days.