Your first session

Turning up somewhere new, on your own, is the hard part — and every one of us has done it. So here is exactly what happens on a Tuesday or Thursday evening, from arriving to going home.

Before you set off

Check where this week's session is. We are not always in the same place — the venue moves with the season, and after heavy rain it can move at short notice. Every venue is listed here, and the RunClub HQ app and the club WhatsApp group carry any changes. If you are not sure, ask us and we will tell you where to be.

Bring trainers, a water bottle and layers for the weather. Spikes or off-road shoes are useful on grass but are not essential to start with, and you do not need club kit until you join.

Bags can be left near the start point. There is always somebody around, but it is a field rather than a changing room — nothing is locked and nothing is covered, so leave anything valuable at home.

Give yourself about an hour and a quarter. Sessions usually wrap up by 8:00pm, occasionally nearer 8:15pm.

You do not have to register first, but it helps — it means somebody is expecting you by name.

The evening, in order

How it goes

Roughly. The only part anybody actually times is the running.

From 6:45
People arrive and warm up
Jog over if that suits you and you will arrive already warm. Otherwise get there ten or fifteen minutes early and you will find plenty of others doing their own warm-up — you will not be the first one there, and you will not be standing on your own.
Around 6:55
Check in
A volunteer will be checking members in. Go and introduce yourself. They will find your registration and introduce you to somebody running at about the same pace as you, who will keep an eye on you for the evening. Our groups are informal and largely self-managed, so this is less a formal allocation than a friendly hand-off to the right people. If there is time they will introduce you to a coach as well.
Around 7:00
Drills, everyone together
Led by one of our coaches, so that the whole group is warmed up and ready to work.
7:10 to 7:15
The briefing
The lead coach explains the plan — how many repetitions, how long, and at what pace. It is short. We use shorthand like threshold, 5k pace and 10k pace; if you do not know what one of them means, ask. Everybody had to ask once.
From 7:15
The session
Coaches stagger the starts so that each pace group has room, and they keep the time or the distance for you — there really is somebody standing there with a stopwatch, so you do not have to think about it. Some sessions are timed and some are measured by distance, so it varies week to week.
Between reps
Use the rest
The recovery is not dead time between the proper running — it is the thing that lets you run the hard parts hard. Take it properly and the last repetition will feel like the first.
It is also when everybody talks, which makes it the best two minutes of the evening for a newcomer. Ask the people around you what they are training for and what else they do in the week. There is no running event, at any distance, pretty much anywhere in the world, that at least one of our members has not done — and they will be more than happy to tell you all about it.
By 8:00
Done
Sometimes nearer 8:15. People tend to stand about and talk for a while before heading off.

Run at a pace that works for you. The aim is to finish the last repetition at the same pace and with the same form as the first — not to finish first.

About the pace groups

It is worth saying plainly: do not be intimidated. Most people set off faster than the pace they were given, including plenty who ought to know better.

And the plan is only a plan. If your group turns out to be too quick or too slow, move to another one. If you have had enough, stop. Everyone here is at a different point in their training cycle, preparing for different races, so somebody easing off is completely normal — and you will not be the only one doing it.

Afterwards

The Sunday long runs are organised by members between themselves in the club WhatsApp group rather than run by the club, and they are the quickest way to get to know people. Whoever you have just trained with will know which one suits you.

A word on the rest of your week. Our coached sessions are the quality part of your training — the hard, structured bit. They are not the whole of it. Building endurance takes plenty of easy running on the other days, at a pace that feels comfortable, and that part is yours to do.

Then come back and do it again. Come the following week, and the week after if you like — up to three sessions before you decide anything. When it starts to feel like the right place to be, subscribe and join the club.