Are you a member of an Althletics / Running Club?

--amadeus--

We have occasional arguments on here about the benefits of a club, why people don't join clubs or whatever but this is really growing out of the AAI/Grassroots thread.

People who lurk or post on here would be more committed than the average runner but how many have joined a club?

(And since it's coming into the New Year and all the new resolutions if you aren't in a club would you be interested in Boards AC?!)

metamorphosis

Im not - i do occasionally (OK very very occasionally do tracks session with west limk)

Oisin11178

I printed out the forms to join Boards AC as the virtual nature of it would suit me as i like training on my own and the times i train can be very erratic due to shift work. Just never got around to joining.

El Director

No

i joined liffy valley ac last year, only really got more committed in the last couple of months when i discovered that running was letting me down in my tri's. Best thing i ever did, i do my interval, hill, seed work etc... with the club, (you try much harder when running along side others) i then do a longer less intensive run at the weekend. it has certainly helped my running anyway, my times are proof.

hunnymonster

No

I never was before but the combination of getting more involved in the sport (doing more than just running for myself) and Boards AC getting set up (which suits me perfectly) means I am now a club member.

metamorphosis

Oisin11178 wrote: »

I printed out the forms to join Boards AC as the virtual nature of it would suit me as i like training on my own and the times i train can be very erratic due to shift work. Just never got around to joining.

+1 also have the forms filled out for about 3 months and sealed and everything! Just not sent

RubyK

I'm not, but I have joined the 12 week Winter League with Waterford AC, which I really enjoy. The group atmosphere is great for motivation.

I would consider AC's to be for those who are a lot fitter and faster than me.

hunnymonster

No

AFAIK, AAI work a Jan-Dec year (woddle correct me if I'm wrong) so send in those forms for 2010 now and get the best value out of your membership.

tunney

No

I'm nominally a member of Ratharnham. Haven't trained with them in years but still do races with them.

domcq

Only really took up running properly a year ago. Having done two marathons this year, I think I've over done it as I feel a bit jaded (sore feet).

My training partner for the marathons (with much the same previous running experience) joined a club early on and is still going strong with much improved times and bags of energy for it still.

The reason I didn't join is that I enjoyed the freedom of running to my own timetable, but on reflection I think i'd be running more regularly now and with more enthusiasm now if I'd joined a club.

TheRoadRunner

No

--amadeus-- wrote: »

People who lurk or post on here would be more committed than the average runner but how many have joined a club?

A bit of a random statement Maybe the guys who don't post here are too busy doing double sessions ?

baza1976

--amadeus-- wrote: »

We have occasional arguments on here about the benefits of a club, why people don't join clubs or whatever but this is really growing out of the AAI/Grassroots thread.

People who lurk or post on here would be more committed than the average runner but how many have joined a club?

(And since it's coming into the New Year and all the new resolutions if you aren't in a club would you be interested in Boards AC?!)

I don't see the point in this thread

What is the purpose of it ? Is it to prove a point "rub it in"?
We all read the bitching in the previous thread mentioned above, this is just a spin off to more bitching.
Let it go Amadeus

Stupid_Private

No

domcq wrote: »

The reason I didn't join is that I enjoyed the freedom of running to my own timetable, but on reflection I think i'd be running more regularly now and with more enthusiasm now if I'd joined a club.

This oul' chestnut. By joining a club you are not forced to run according to their timetable or at times when you can't. It's not like GAA training or anything like that where if you don't go to training you can't play at the weekend. Use the club the best way that suits you - find a club close to your work or home, go to sessions that work for you, don't go to the ones that don't. You can still run by yourself when you want.

There's also the added bonus of free races (assuming your club pays entry fees to championship races).

MrCreosote

Not in a club at the moment myself. The plan is to change that in the New Year...

Krusty_Clown

No

I started running around 2 years ago, prior to this I had never heard of the AAI or clubs/club running. I now greatly rue my mis-spent youth, and wish I had exposure to running clubs in my formative years.

I am now a member of Boards AC, but if I weren't, I would probably have approached a club at this stage (most likely Bray Runners, given their proximity). Boards AC works for me. Because of long working hours and family commitments, I don't think I could make training sessions on any day other than Sunday, which is long run day anyway. Boards has good spirit, and an excellent support network.

ss43

No

--amadeus-- wrote: »

People who lurk or post on here would be more committed than the average runner but how many have joined a club?

Are you for real?

What I see here are mostly runners who train a bit and treat it as a hobby but don't worry too much if 'life' gets in the way. I would say a high percentage of posters here would skip a day if they didn't feel like it.

Runners I know in the real world train hard, are very committed and make running their life. Not many would skip a day just cos they felt like it.

That'd be my interpretation of things anyway although it does depend on who you happen to associate with. It seems to me Amadeus (from this and lots of other comments) you understimate the comittment of a lot of runners. Maybe you should try get into a group of serious runners and see what it's like.

ultraman1

No

ss43 wrote: »

.

Runners I know in the real world train hard, are very committed and make running their life.
quote]
thank god 4 dat,i thought we were all livin in a dream world......

sean_84

The AAI/grassroots thread had people with different definitions of "grassroots". This one has people with different definitions of "average runner"...

robinph

No

sean_84 wrote: »

The AAI/grassroots thread had people with different definitions of "grassroots". This one has people with different definitions of "average runner"...

Because everybody thinks of themselves as being either just above or just below average. Probably on the same basis as to if the glass is half full or empty.

TheRoadRunner

No

ss43 wrote: »

Are you for real?

It seems to me Amadeus (from this and lots of other comments) you understimate the comittment of a lot of runners.

And at the same time have a blinkedered Boards.ie view that this message board is somehow the voice of the ordinary Joe soap/grass roots runner.

What is the point of this poll anyway ?

shels4ever

No

--amadeus-- wrote: »

We have occasional arguments on here about the benefits of a club, why people don't join clubs or whatever but this is really growing out of the AAI/Grassroots thread.

People who lurk or post on here would be more committed than the average runner but how many have joined a club?

(And since it's coming into the New Year and all the new resolutions if you aren't in a club would you be interested in Boards AC?!)

How about you compare the time run by the club runners to the non club runner as see what that says.
It's all well and good been a member of a club, membership actually says nothing at all really, anyone can fill out a form and pay to join, but the real benifit of clubs is training , racing etc apart from BAC which doesnt really work like a traditional club so our members are more like the associated members that was mentioed in the other thread.

Krusty_Clown

No

Amadeus wrote: »

People who lurk or post on here would be more committed than the average runner

ss43 wrote: »

What I see here are mostly runners who train a bit and treat it as a hobby but don't worry too much if 'life' gets in the way. I would say a high percentage of posters here would skip a day if they didn't feel like it. Runners I know in the real world train hard, are very committed and make running their life. Not many would skip a day just cos they felt like it.

Thank God you're here to pump up our averages (no sarcasm intended (except for the god-part)). The greater the cross-section the better. This forum is for all, not just the speed-merchants. There are plenty of club-runners who would take a day off, if it were cold, and plenty non-club runners who would not.

There's an 'us' versus 'them' storm brewing on the forum these days, but the forum is for 'we'.

donothoponpop

No

Member of Parnell AC in Wicklow for the past two years, although I've only ever ran one single race for them, and they're too far away to train with. I had intended swapping to Boards, but I'll be needing head Parnell honcho Bill Porters advice soon, looking for training programs for the kids doing Community Games, so would feel guilty leaving him. Plus. the inter-county transfer process is a Kafkaesque joke, taking months, and many county Boards signatures:rolleyes:, and I'm just not worth that hassle!

Will still run for Boards in IMRA though!

--amadeus--

Jesus lads - like the quote about Freud "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar" - well in this case a thread was just a thread.

But in the absence of an appendix detailing the definitions used in my previous post I'll do a quick expansion... If you stood on a street corner and grabbed teh first hundred runners that went by what you would have (apart from 100 angry runners) is a representative cross section of irish runners. By definition if you got (for example) thier average age then you would have a good idea of the average age of the average runner.

But of your random sample of runners a proportion would use running as a means to an end. They might be crosstraining, trying to lose weight, de-stress or whatever. I'm assuming that way more people just run than enter races.

Now some people buy running magazines, get books on training, read running websites and join in online running forums.

These people are more "into" running, more interested, more "committed".

See where I'm going with this - "the average person on here is probably more committed than your average runner". Funnily enough I wasn't having a dig at clubs - if anything I would imagine your average club runner is signifigantly more committed than your average runner.

Anyway what was the point of this thread? I had said I thought a sizeable proportion of posters wouldn't be in clubs. I was wondering if I was right and what proportion were members.

Probably pointless but then very little on here is Nobel prize for literature quality.

The stuff about BAC was a bit of an add on. Turn of the year, lots of New Years resolutions, whole new membership year about to start. Nothing wrong with some subtle advertising

Condo131

No

hunnymonster wrote: »

AFAIK, AAI work a Jan-Dec year (woddle correct me if I'm wrong) so send in those forms for 2010 now and get the best value out of your membership.

Yes the AAI Registration year is Jan to Dec. Your club will probably get the 2010 registration cards in late 2010 or else not at all! :rolleyes:

Been a member of an AAI club since Oct 1984 (well, it was BLE back than).

I reckon the original intent was to ask a general question; "How committed are you?"

So here's my 'profile': Been running nearly 26 years. I run, maybe, 28 - 31 days a month, doing between mid 40's and 60's mpw, depending on the target, and am both an AAI and BHAA club member. I've toyed with Tri's over the years. I now consider myself a committed runner, but no longer consider myself as a 'dedicated runner'.

wrt all the bitchin' about whether to have this thread/poll at all. What's the point in bitchin' - you don't have to respond. (bet someone is going to respond to that!)

TheRoadRunner

No

--amadeus-- wrote: »

Anyway what was the point of this thread? I had said I thought a sizeable proportion of posters wouldn't be in clubs. I was wondering if I was right and what proportion were members.

Well 2 out of 3 posters (or people who replied to this thread) seem to be.

--amadeus--

Yeah, looks to be settling down at roughly 70:30. Funnily enough it started at 55:45, went to about 60:40 and the longer it's open the higher the proportion of club runners.

Still a sizeable enough minority. And there are 25 potential new BAC members there...