What's the point of joining a running club? Am I missing something?

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pointy stick

1 year ago 03/10/2019 12:54pm CDT

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Now and then I think about joining one of the local clubs, but when I look at what they do I always think 'what's the point? why is this better than self-coaching?' I'd like to know if I'm overlooking something, though.

I'm a middle aged recreational runner in the UK who's serious enough about training to read Daniels, LRC training threads etc. in some depth and work hard, but I'm not going to set any records.

Weekly track workouts -- sounds great, but you're following a coach who probably has a different approach to you, or who may even know less than you do. And doing intervals in a group means you're running to someone else's pace not yours. Using a track is good though.

Group long runs -- I can't imagine that making small talk with strangers while running at the group pace rather than your own is enjoyable at all. And from the sound of it there's a lot of faffing about at the start and end too. Don't see the point at all, from a training perspective.

Social events, dinners -- god no!

So, obviously I don't care about the social aspect. Maybe there just isn't anything more to it than that, but I'd hate to discover too late that there was. If you're in a club, especially in the UK, am I missing out or not?
GoatZenHeimer

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1 year ago 03/10/2019 1:00pm CDT
re: pointy stick

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I always figured it’s for the collective beer summit after each work out.
Wolf's Bane

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1 year ago 03/10/2019 1:03pm CDT
re: GoatZenHeimer

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They meet up and drink so there is that. It supports whatever races they put on too.
Allen1959

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1 year ago 03/10/2019 1:04pm CDT
re: pointy stick

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Seems like there's no benefit for you. But I enjoyed the occasional social activities, plus competing as part of a team. Also, met my wife in the local running club back in 1997. That alone was worth joining (USA, not UK).
HHH Runner

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1 year ago 03/10/2019 1:05pm CDT
re: pointy stick

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If you genuinely don't care about the social bit (which is rather closed minded if you ask me, since why not try? You'll obviously have at least one common interest) then I can think of two massive reasons.

Huge value for money. You're talking roughly 50 quid to go first claim for a club. That's what I pay. That's free entry into 4 Surrey League XC races, Southern and National Champs, South of Thames Junior and Senior races (2 races), Surrey County Champs, 6 Stage Southern and National Relays, 12 Stage Southern and National Relays, Surrey Relays and 3 track leagues that run all summer, Rosenheim League, SAL and BAL. With those track leagues you're talking maybe 12-18 free track races per year. Every race here is excellent competition.

Then as a registered athlete you'll get 2-4 quid off every race entry in the UK. Access to the Championship start at the Big Half/London Marathon.

For 50 quid.

Second, every club I know has a ton of older runners and coaches who you can learn from. Who talk from experience, even if it's just a quick chat before a race. That's not interfering with your training plan but it's always possible to learn more.

Gear advice from people in similar conditions and situations as you. Being made aware of events you would otherwise have no clue about.

And you might even stop being such a lonely, miserable old codger. Maybe not though.
scot free

1 year ago 03/10/2019 1:06pm CDT
re: pointy stick

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Where in the UK r u based? Maybe there are some letsrunners you can train with.

HHH Runner

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1 year ago 03/10/2019 1:08pm CDT
re: HHH Runner

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Questions for you - where in the country are you? Because if it's just a small local club then I kind of understand you. If it's London then you're insane. The coaches at basically every major club are pretty damn good and normally ran extremely well themselves (sub-2:20 in most cases).

And you get access to them for less than a months membership at the gym.
My Experience

1 year ago 03/10/2019 1:15pm CDT
re: pointy stick

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What's the point of asking what the point of joining a running club is? The benefits should be pretty obvious. And it rarely means more than two runs a week with the club ... and you're not even obligated to do that.
As for making small talk during long runs, my own experience is that the serious runners at the front in the club were running within about 40 seconds per mile of race pace and did not talk. I can even remember when circumstances forced us off our usual routes and I said to the three other guys up front "whoever's in the lead just decides where we go," and those were the last words spoken for almost an hour.
As for interval pace, well, let the first be first and the last last, as the Bible says (I am an atheist) . No one is slowing you down in club workouts unless you WANT to be slowed down.
The Scot

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1 year ago 03/10/2019 1:48pm CDT
re: pointy stick

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Joining a club for social runs may not be your scene but the chance to do group track and hill sessions makes it worthwhile. There isn't much chatting during the actual session as they're too hard. Also get access to a qualified UKA coach.
pointy stick

1 year ago 03/11/2019 3:48pm CDT
re: The Scot

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Thanks everyone for some really useful thoughts, esp. HHH Runner. Of course, races/meets is a big one, I somehow forgot about that. I may give it a go.
Coevett

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1 year ago 03/11/2019 5:34pm CDT
re: pointy stick

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I'm also thinking of joining a local club (in the UK) and have been drawing much of the same conclusions as you as to the benefits to interval training and group runs.

The advantage I can see is that you get free and largely unlimited access to the track. Also, if you wish to compete in track rather than just road races, then as far as I can tell it's almost obligatory to be a member of a club. From reading this board it seems in the USA any 50 year old Joe can just turn up to his local college or high school all comer's track meet and race in the 800m against whoever. Unfortunately, we don't have that in the UK at all. We do have Parkruns though, lol.
Precious Roy

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1 year ago 03/11/2019 5:47pm CDT
re: Coevett

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I agree about the social aspect. Never cared for it beyond spending 15 min after a workout or long run shooting the breeze.

But I can say that I would have never been anywhere close to the runner I was without doing workouts and long runs with my running club. Sure, if I had unlimited funds I could have paid a coach to watch me spin around a track and design perfect workouts. But I switched from golf to running because it was affordable. I was always lucky to have some fast guys to chase during workouts and loved challenging each other to push the pace on long runs. That was indispensable to my development as a runner.

Is this thread update?

1 year ago 03/11/2019 6:03pm CDT
re: Precious Roy

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Precious Roy wrote:
.

I would have never been anywhere close to the runner I was without doing workouts and long runs with my running club. (...) I was always lucky to have some fast guys to chase during workouts and loved challenging each other to push the pace on long runs. That was indispensable to my development as a runner.

That's it right there. You can train harder at the same mental effort when you're running with someone slightly faster than you. And training harder means getting faster.
elviejo

1 year ago 03/11/2019 6:48pm CDT
re: Is this thread update?

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I was a runner, on my own, for 20+ years with decent results for an afult-onset runner (sub 3 marathon at 38 years old). I joined a running club when was about 45 years old and by the time I was 51 I had set PRs in every single distance I raced. Big PRs. We had no coach but the motivation of training with other serious runners, going to USATF races, team scoring, XC, track meets combined to amp up my whole reason for running. It just completely opened my eyes to real training and racing. My PRs are long behind me but the highlight of my running week remains the Sat club workouts. I only see these people on Saturdays and race days but they are some of the best friends I have.
Feel the same

1 year ago 03/11/2019 8:40pm CDT
re: pointy stick

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Only point if youre not into socializing is the workouts. You have to find a group that's about the same or better fitness.
pond scum

1 year ago 03/11/2019 8:48pm CDT
re: pointy stick

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The point of a running club is to all get fit for y’alls upcoming orgys

😁
Pretzel Man

1 year ago 03/11/2019 11:20pm CDT
re: Feel the same

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I've had more success running on pure hate.
1979

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1 year ago 03/12/2019 3:12am CDT
re: Coevett

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Coevett wrote:
From reading this board it seems in the USA any 50 year old Joe can just turn up to his local college or high school all comer's track meet and race in the 800m against whoever. Unfortunately, we don't have that in the UK at all. We do have Parkruns though, lol.

You don't? Are you sure? In the Netherlands there's 2 or more open track meets every week during spring and summer, and you know how tiny our country is. You do need to be a licenced athlete though, which is my main reason for having joined a track club.
1979

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1 year ago 03/12/2019 3:20am CDT
re: 1979

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1979 wrote:

Coevett wrote:
From reading this board it seems in the USA any 50 year old Joe can just turn up to his local college or high school all comer's track meet and race in the 800m against whoever. Unfortunately, we don't have that in the UK at all. We do have Parkruns though, lol.

You don't? Are you sure? In the Netherlands there's 2 or more open track meets every week during spring and summer, and you know how tiny our country is. You do need to be a licenced athlete though, which is my main reason for having joined a track club.

What's this then?

http://www.openmeetings.co.uk/
track chick

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1 year ago 03/12/2019 3:21am CDT
re: 1979

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You can compete on the track unattached in the UK but it's a more limited amount of races like Coevett says. For example, you wouldn't be able to compete in any of the leagues as far as I'm aware, unless you made a special arrangement with the organiser (who may be OK with that in races 800m up. For shorter stuff, not so much, because of the limit of lanes - 8).
You actually don't need to be a licensed athlete here or any medical clearance like places like Italy - at least that was the case when I was competing (mainly 1990s). It could have changed so don't jump on me.

There are quite a lot of open meets where you can run unattached. Some at places like SportCity, Manchester, etc. Worcester, Gloucester. All around England.

You definitely couldn't turn up to a high school or college event and run.

If you buy athletics weekly, go to the race calendar at the back, the "track" section, it lists all of the open meets. When you fill in the form, you would have to put unattached. It used to be an extra £1 or so.

I hope that helps anyone who would like to run on the track but not join a club.