Thoughts on running clubs

Cabaal

So I started running in Jan/Feb and as time has gone by I've increased distance and speed but I've always been on my own, I've thought about joining a club (I believe there's one in Kilkenny City).

Just curious what people's thoughts are on the, good and bad points...I've debated just joining the BAC but I'm thinking maybe an actual local club might be better.

ss43

Cabaal wrote: »

So I started running in Jan/Feb and as time has gone by I've increased distance and speed but I've always been on my own, I've thought about joining a club (I believe there's one in Kilkenny City).

Just curious what people's thoughts are on the, good and bad points...I've debated just joining the BAC but I'm thinking maybe an actual local club might be better.

Join the club. It could have:
Training partners
Good coaches
Facilities
Teams for races

If it doesn't you can always go back to doing your own thing. The only drawback would be the 20quid or so you spend on membership and most clubs will give you a trial period before getting you to pay anyway. Most clubs let you come to trainings as little or as often as you like so there's no obligation when you join. No reason not to as far as I can see.

christeb

Cabaal wrote: »

So I started running in Jan/Feb and as time has gone by I've increased distance and speed but I've always been on my own, I've thought about joining a club (I believe there's one in Kilkenny City).

Just curious what people's thoughts are on the, good and bad points...I've debated just joining the BAC but I'm thinking maybe an actual local club might be better.

my problem when I started was that I thought they were too elitist. Not from an attitude POV but from a standard POV.
But it's not like that at all, if you have any real interest in running I would join ASAP, your times will fall dramatically. Having that structure around you is priceless, at least for me.

surfjunky

I'd say join a local club, try it out anyway, you might like it. If you don't just leave.
I found running with a club amazing, really brought my performances on and they're great bunch of lads (I started from a low base and they had no problems with that). Some people prefer training on their own so it mightn't suit, but you'll never know unless you give it a shot.

shels4ever

Yep go for a local club nothing like running with a group, if you feel you can't make it or want to change then you can join BAC.

yop

Thats interesting, I am not part of a club and would be too embarrassed to join one but from what yous say there are many different levels of runners.

Cabaal

This seems to be the local club to me - http://www.kch.ie/
Appears to be a mix of people...least with any luck

Krusty_Clown

It sounds like for what you're looking for, a local club would probably suit better. If it doesn't work out, then join BAC. You won't get coaching, companionship on your training runs or facilities, but there's good camaraderie around races, team race entries, AAI affiliation, and familiar friendly faces at races.

The boards IMRA (mountain running) team has performed very well, since it's formation (note: joining BAC is not a requirement, but you can buy the funky BAC singlet!).

Condo131

yop wrote: »

Thats interesting, I am not part of a club and would be too embarrassed to join one but from what yous say there are many different levels of runners.

I have an idea of how you feel. One of the most common answers I get when canvassing new members is "I wouldn't be good enough". Nothing could be further from the truth. Very, very few of us make the top level. The rest of us strive to both improve and also enjoy our running.

You'll get a good indicator of the levels of runners in a club by looking at race results. See how the other runners from your prospective club perform relative to you. That's a reasonably good indicator.

As other posters say, most clubs allow you to try things out for a few weeks before asking for a membership fee, so you should be able to check out several before deciding.

asimonov

Cabaal wrote: »

This seems to be the local club to me - http://www.kch.ie/
Appears to be a mix of people...least with any luck

Hey Cabaal,

Harriers is a good club with a range of runners from a really good fit-for -life squad to brian maher. They meet on tuesdays and thursdays at the watershed. Villagerunner on boards is a member, i'm sure if you PM'd him he'd give you the low down. There is a race series on at the moment in kilkenny every wednesday evening at 7:30 for the next 3 weeks - it gets a big turnout with lots of harriers runners there.

If you live outside the city, thomastown and gowran have clubs - but there will be much less in the way of senior training structure with those. if you need any more info, feel free to drop me a PM.

RedB

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

(note: joining BAC is not a requirement, but you can buy the funky BAC singlet!).

Can you really get the funky BAC singlet without joining BAC? If so, how?

I'd like to get one for big events that other boardsies are also at but you can only join one club. I stuck on a sign on my back in Connemara but it fell off on the course :rolleyes:.

Krusty_Clown

RedB wrote: »

Can you really get the funky BAC singlet without joining BAC? If so, how?

I'd like to get one for big events that other boardsies are also at but you can only join one club. I stuck on a sign on my back in Connemara but it fell off on the course :rolleyes:.

I meant that you don't need to join BAC to run for boards in the IMRA hill runs, but if you join BAC, you can buy the singlet. Not sure what the situation is on buying the singlet if you're not a BAC member. Woddle/Peckam/Shels would have a better idea.

Woddle

Yeah the singlet is mainly for club members but there is def a close affiliation with the mountain runners (some are members) and we like that affiliation alot, so that would be the only instance in which you wouldn't have to be a club member to get the singlet.

I should probably add that it's only 25 euro to be a member and then the singlet costs another 25 euro but its a top class singlet.

Mink

I found joining a club has given me a push in the right direction. It's making me want to train a bit more during the week so I have some improvement to show for myself.

There's all sorts of ages, different levels of running in the club I'm in. There's no pressure to keep pace with others when doing laps for instance. I also have gotten a ton of useful advice from running technique to equipment (clothes, runners etc) from people in the know & that's helped me too.

Now I don't know what you're local club is like but it can't do any harm.

RedB

Woddle wrote: »

Yeah the singlet is mainly for club members but there is def a close affiliation with the mountain runners (some are members) and we like that affiliation alot, so that would be the only instance in which you wouldn't have to be a club member to get the singlet.

I should probably add that it's only 25 euro to be a member and then the singlet costs another 25 euro but its a top class singlet.

Yeah, good value but not my main point - you can only be in one AAI club so you can't become a BAC member if you're already in a running club. Fancy loosening the requirement to be a club memeber to buy the singlet? Or even expanding that 'affiliation' for triathletes? Or having a general boardsie line of sportswear that's not just for BAC members ! I can see the Boardsie brand going global! Go on, you know you want to

robinph

A boardsie "brand" of running gear would be good, for anyone and just training gear. I saw that the cyclists have come up with a whole new kit for themselves this year as well, although I'm not sure about the pink colur scheme they selected. Can't link to their thread as I,m on the mobile site, but it's on the cycling forum somewhere.

aburke

Woddle wrote: »

Yeah the singlet is mainly for club members but there is def a close affiliation with the mountain runners (some are members) and we like that affiliation alot, so that would be the only instance in which you wouldn't have to be a club member to get the singlet.

I should probably add that it's only 25 euro to be a member and then the singlet costs another 25 euro but its a top class singlet.

robinph wrote: »

A boardsie "brand" of running gear would be good, for anyone and just training gear. I saw that the cyclists have come up with a whole new kit for themselves this year as well, although I'm not sure about the pink colur scheme they selected. Can't link to their thread as I,m on the mobile site, but it's on the cycling forum somewhere.

I'd happily wear a boards AC training top, should one be available for affiliates. If such a thing was available I'd imagine people who normally run past people while training might recognise the top and say hello.

robinph

I just knocked this up in as a demo, but I think a tech top along the lines of this would go down nicely:



Just spotted that I've made a typo in there as well and spelt running wrong by using the g, should be now ye're runnin'

What do the rest of you think?

I realise this thread is now liable to be getting away from the original topic, so maybe a passing mod might split it in two for us?

Pisco Sour

Depends on the club really. Personally I had a bad experience with one. My local club is Dundrum South Dublin AC. I got in touch with them and asked do they cater to all levels to which I was told they do (Massive LIE!). So I show up one sunny morning for a trial run to see if I like it or not. Well after about a mile I could no longer keep up with ANYBODY. They were all on a different planet. The slowest guy over 10k runs it in 34-35 minutes, and is a 1.53 800m runner. It was 100% elitest from a performance point of view. I dropped off their pace very quickly, and they were only going for an "easy" run! :eek:

I spent practically the whole time running on my own. I didnt stay long and never came back. No way was I paying 60-70 euro to run on my own. I can do that for free myself!

Running with better athletes can help you improve. Running with athletes who are so so so much better however doesnt help one bit.

Research the club properly before joining. Make sure they cater to all levels.

christeb

04072511 wrote: »

Depends on the club really. Personally I had a bad experience with one. My local club is Dundrum South Dublin AC. I got in touch with them and asked do they cater to all levels to which I was told they do (Massive LIE!). So I show up one sunny morning for a trial run to see if I like it or not. Well after about a mile I could no longer keep up with ANYBODY. They were all on a different planet. The slowest guy over 10k runs it in 34-35 minutes, and is a 1.53 800m runner. It was 100% elitest from a performance point of view. I dropped off their pace very quickly, and they were only going for an "easy" run! :eek:

I spent practically the whole time running on my own. I didnt stay long and never came back. No way was I paying 60-70 euro to run on my own. I can do that for free myself!

Running with better athletes can help you improve. Running with athletes who are so so so much better however doesnt help one bit.

Research the club properly before joining. Make sure they cater to all levels.

I had a similar experience with my first time running with Raheny. Surely DSD have different groups though? I know Raheny do. Some nights you just get faster runners and you head out on your own, most night's there'd be a dispersed groups so you can always find someone at your level though. I would try not to be put off by a tough first experience, I would be surprised if they can't fit you in somewhere.

gerard65

04072511 wrote: »

Depends on the club really. Personally I had a bad experience with one. My local club is Dundrum South Dublin AC. I got in touch with them and asked do they cater to all levels to which I was told they do (Massive LIE!). So I show up one sunny morning for a trial run to see if I like it or not. Well after about a mile I could no longer keep up with ANYBODY. They were all on a different planet. The slowest guy over 10k runs it in 34-35 minutes, and is a 1.53 800m runner. It was 100% elitest from a performance point of view. I dropped off their pace very quickly, and they were only going for an "easy" run! :eek:

I spent practically the whole time running on my own. I didnt stay long and never came back. No way was I paying 60-70 euro to run on my own. I can do that for free myself!

Running with better athletes can help you improve. Running with athletes who are so so so much better however doesnt help one bit.

Research the club properly before joining. Make sure they cater to all levels.

Sportsworld in Bushy park seem to have more diverse groups.

Condo131

04072511 wrote: »

.................. I didnt stay long and never came back. No way was I paying 60-70 euro to run on my own. I can do that for free myself!

Running with better athletes can help you improve. Running with athletes who are so so so much better however doesnt help one bit.

Research the club properly before joining. Make sure they cater to all levels.

Can't comment on the clubs mentioned in your post, and christeb's, but unfortunately you'll find that there are a number of clubs in any city that correspond with your experience. It normally is better in clubs in towns around the country, where, with a smaller base to draw from, generally every potential member is valued.

I used to belong to a club where a 28:00 5 miler was classed as "he's a tryer. He's not very good". I left that club not long after that.

As I said in a previous post, check race results sheets and you'll soon get a feel for the standards in a club. If all the members are in the top 10% of the results, you'd better be of similar standard or you'll be in trouble. Oth, if there's a good spread throughout the result sheet, you've a good indicator of a club that caters for a wider range of standard.

Remember also that many clubs are based at tracks, for instance mine is, but not everyone actually comes to the track, so you may have the higher standard runners turning up there, with the others traing elsewhere. I reckon that some of our members have never been to the track and wouldn't even be able to find it! :eek:

Woddle

If there is a serious amount of interest in an ART forum singlet or T-shirt I could get in touch with Ger from Pearl Izumi and see what he can do for us

RayCun

I'd buy one...

Macanri

RayCun wrote: »

I'd buy one...

+1 I'ld buy one.

Bugnug

I joined a club two months ago, best thing I ever did for my training, great fun and great people. Very reasonable annual subscription and we are trained twice a week by a professional coach.

--amadeus--

Woddle wrote: »

If there is a serious amount of interest in an ART forum singlet or T-shirt I could get in touch with Ger from Pearl Izumi and see what he can do for us

It's a great idea but I think you'd probably need one of teh Mods to check with the Admins / Community Managers first.

robinph

--amadeus-- wrote: »

It's a great idea but I think you'd probably need one of teh Mods to check with the Admins / Community Managers first.

See these threads for the rules on use of the boards.ie name and also boards.ie logos and graphics.

I'd be up for a tech tshirt as well if someone can come up with a decent design, depending on what is actually possible with the printing?

--amadeus--

robinph wrote: »

See these threads for the rules on use of the boards.ie name and also boards.ie logos and graphics.

I'd be up for a tech tshirt as well if someone can come up with a decent design, depending on what is actually possible with the printing?

Yea I can't see there being a problem, especially since the green light was given for BAC. I suppose the reason I was flagging it is there is a difference between having a singlet for the club and just printing and selling T shirts with the logo on.

Maybe add a euro to the price and chip the excess money into SSF?

RedB

--amadeus-- wrote: »

Yea I can't see there being a problem, especially since the green light was given for BAC. I suppose the reason I was flagging it is there is a difference between having a singlet for the club and just printing and selling T shirts with the logo on.

Maybe add a euro to the price and chip the excess money into SSF?

And maybe give an extra option to customise it by putting your boardsname (e.g. RedB) on it for another euro or two?

I like Robinph's design and slogan but maybe refer to Boards.ie as well so other runners would find the site.

Woddle

RedB wrote: »

And maybe give an extra option to customise it by putting your boardsname (e.g. RedB) on it for another euro or two?
.

I have woddle on the back of my singlet, I've yet to wear it though.

shels4ever

Woddle wrote: »

I have woddle on the back of my singlet, I've yet to wear it though.

I like hte yet part of that .... Nationl half marathon ....

Woddle

shels4ever wrote: »

I like hte yet part of that .... Nationl half marathon ....

Yep national half has been penciled in

Condo131

Only 5 of the last 18 posts have been on topic - see header! :cool:

Seres

Woddle wrote: »

Yep national half has been penciled in

when is it on ?

Woddle

Seres wrote: »

when is it on ?

I think Sunday the 5th of Sept