Joining a club?

G-Money

I'm considering joining a running club. I've a few that aren't too far from where I live but Rathfarnham WSAF Athletics club was recommended to me by a friend and it's not too far from me and it's the main one I am considering.

I think it would be nice to perhaps mix with some other runners but at the same time, I'm not sure I want to be miles behind everyone else. At the moment I'm lucky if I can go sub 40 for a 5K.

Anyone here know how open they are to super beginners like me? Or is everyone there at the very least at a half decent level?

Thanks!

RacoonQueen

Sometimes the slower guys will train with the girls at clubs, and if they're 'slower' again if the club has a fit4life group you could train with them. Generally the fit4life groups would be beginners or just slower runners but offer the same benefits as training with the other groups in the club. Most, if not all, clubs have fit4life groups. Keep your options open, train with a couple of your local clubs and find the one that suits you best, just because Rathfarnham works well for one person it doesn't mean they'll work well for you.

Edit: Well maybe not most clubs then looking at the bosses link :pac: Check out the evening herald on Wednesdays, it has a full list.

donothoponpop

List of AAI clubs with Fit4Life groups.

(Link is from AI website, but from 2009, so some info may have changed)

PVincent

All Runners/Joggers (Male /Female) living close to the Rathfarnham/Knocklyon area
Knocklyon Runners meet every Tues & Thurs at 7.00pm at Cherryfield Pk (opposite Ballyboden St Endas)
Runnners of all abilities welcome. We do not have any elite athletes in our club .Everyone is guaranteed to have a bit of fun whilst training hard. We vary our sessions every week so that you benefit from all of the different athletic sessions ( Hills, Speed, Fartlek, easy runs, we even do the odd Boot Camp Session) Come along & see what we can offer. We promise that you will enjoy the atmosphere & the banter . We will keep you fit all summer and we might even get you running some of the many fun runs/races that are on every week . Many of our runners began training for a marathon a few years ago as fun runners and now they are committed runners . We have a great balance between training and enjoyment ,and with a number of different standards you will always have people to train and run with during our sessions.
The cost of training for the year is €50. ( to cover insurance & registration) so that is far cheaper than any Boot Camps or even Tag Rugby . Check out our Facebook site for more info or mail me at peter.vincent@aviva.ie

G-Money

donothoponpop wrote: »

List of AAI clubs with Fit4Life groups.

(Link is from AI website, but from 2009, so some info may have changed)

Looks like Bray and Tallaght are the closest ones to me with Fit4Life. I think I enquired about Dundrum before and it seemed to be a non-runner for some reason (pun intended)

RayCun

If you're near Rathfarnham WSAF, you could also try Sportsworld. They train in Marlay and Bushy parks, and as far as I know have a decent range of standards

tHE vAGGABOND

All Runners/Joggers (Male /Female) living close to the Rathfarnham/Knocklyon area
Knocklyon Runners meet every Tues & Thurs at 7.00pm at Cherryfield Pk (opposite Ballyboden St Endas)

I'm nothing to do with this group and have never met them or taken part in their sessions, but I know a couple of people who went from not running at all to completing a marathon last year with them. They rave about them

Racman

Rathfarnham WSAF is a good club - as indeed are the others that have been mentioned here. In my opinion, your running will be transformed when you join a club. For an individual sport, you will experience a great amount of guidance, support, encouragement and friendship. I find it remarkable the amount of support you get from clubmates in races.

Clubs generally are not elitist. If you go to a Rathfarnham training session, I am sure that you will find people running at your standard as well as faster and slower. You will certainly improve with consistent training.

Rathfarnham meet at Bushy Park at 6.30pm on Tuesdays (from today) with another session on Thursdays commencing soon. Saturday mornings at Bushy Park and a longer run on a Sunday morning at 9.00am from the clubhouse in Rathfarnham village. Just turn up and give it a go - no big formalities. Website www.athleticsrathfarnham.ie

G-Money

Just an update really, I'm still no closer to joining a club. I was sort of set on Rathfarnham AC but then I was talking to my mate who went training there last week. He told me what they were doing and lets just say, it would have taken me all night to complete the same amount of training. So that has me thinking it's possibly not suitable for someone at my level of fitness.

Dundrum has suggested I join in with their womens mini-marathon training programme as they think that would be suitable as men are welcome on it. However I've noticed on their website the womens mini marathon training is aimed at those wanting to complete the 10k in approximately 45-65 minutes! Which is probably still too fast for me. I'd be lucky to do it in 85 minutes.

Sportsworld sounds like a possibility and they've said to pop down some night to try it out but I haven't went there yet.

I have to admit I'm kind of looking for a slightly bigger club as I'm interested in the social aspect and I thought a club with more members might be better for that.

The only Fit4Life groups that are anywhere nearby are Tallaght and Bray and I think those locations might be a bit too far from the point of view that I could make excuses not to go.

RayCun

Dundrum sounds like the best option, to be honest, they seem to have the most members that are closest to your standard.

Bear in mind that if they say they have a group that range from 45-65 minutes, that is a huge difference in paces. So their training sessions might already build in a certain amount of separation and regrouping, and they'll be able to include you without difficulty.

RacoonQueen

Sounds like you're making excuses already. Why not pop down to Dundrum and join in their mini marathon training and see how it goes? There might still be people in around 85 minutes or even one person around 80 minutes that'll give you someone to chase.

You say you would have taken all night to finish out Rathfarnham's session, you don't have to do 10 reps just because the others do 10 reps. You can do 6 or 4 to start off with and you'll be getting closer and closer to 10 in no time. You'll be surprised how quickly you'll improve once you start running in groups and have someone to chase.

G-Money

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Sounds like you're making excuses already.

Not really. I sometimes though find it very hard to make decisions

RubyK

You have absolutely nothing to loose by joining up with a local group. Sounds like you really want to do, but are putting lots of doubts in your head about it. Don't be put off by times or comments from friends - judge for yourself. Hook up with the group, take the advice and support offered and I'm sure you'll reap the benefit of group training.

Best of luck, and I hope you'll have a positive update for us shortly.

W.B. Yeats

As somebody that is also considering joining a club like the OP here's my view fwiw.

I live in the same area and have the same range of clubs open to choose from, for me there are a number of considerations two most important ones are is there a group that I can fit into- not elite somewhere in the middle but one that will force me to improve and do the training times suit? The other considerations weren't really important in the end I concluded.

As a result I went with Knocklyon Runners as the others all seemed to start training at times that didn't suit. I've run with them 3 times in the past fortnight so I can echo what Peter has posted above. The training that I've been to has been enjoyable while challenging. Due to personal circumstances I might not be down to them again for a while but when I'm back to a normal routine I'll be making my way back to Cherryfield and Knocklyon Runners.

Rashers23

RayCun wrote: »

Dundrum sounds like the best option,
Bear in mind that if they say they have a group that range from 45-65 minutes, that is a huge difference in paces.

I started training with the mini marathon group organised by DSD last year and would recommend it to everyone.
I ran the 10k, kept on with the training and did the Connemara half on Sunday!
Come along and see how you get on. You won't know about any group/club unless you go along and try them out for a few sessions.

ElectraX

PVincent wrote: »

The cost of training for the year is €50. ( to cover insurance & registration)

Can you come along and try out one session without paying annual membership? I too am seriously looking for a club to join but would like the option of trying one out before
commiting to anything.

metamorphosis

Yes, you can go to a session forst to see it it's for you