Running Partners: Why start a club?

Running Partners: Why start a club? by Ray Christensen

Looking for running partners?
You’re not alone! There are plenty of people in your city or town or county who want to run or jog for different reasons. These goals are easier to accomplish when we have others to support us with motivation, experience, camaraderie, and humor. It’s easier to stick to a workout routine or to train for an event when you do it in the company of friends. Running with a group will be of great help for any of the following 10 reasons:

• To lose some weight and enjoy a healthier lifestyle
• To get fit and feel stronger
• To meet new people and make friends
• To feel better about yourself by setting and achieving goals
• To find healthy ways to release the stress of life
• To do something positive in the local community
• To feel pride in being part of a team
• To have activities and events to look forward to on a regular basis
• To improve performance in a particular sport through cross-training
• To accomplish a life-long dream such as run a marathon

Who would be interested? Why would they join?
Here are 10 possibilities:

• Runners who feel like athletic loners and seek more enjoyment.
• Those who seek activity partners for safety reasons.
• Novice runners and joggers who'd like support or advice from more experienced people.
• Experienced runners who want to share their knowledge and enthusiasm - and maybe brag a little.
• People who need motivation to get fit or lose weight.
• Runners without a club that's convenient for their schedule.
• Runners who seek training partners with similar skill levels
• Anyone who wants to work out in the company of others, but would rather not pay fitness club membership fees.
• People new to the area who want to enjoy healthy activities.
• Those who want to meet members of the opposite sex in a friendly, fun and safe environment.

Start a new club?
Go to any park, gym, or fitness center and you’ll find plenty of people working out alone who would be happy to have others to make the experience more pleasant….and that doesn’t even include the countless people exercising in their own garages, basements and living rooms! Many of them would gladly get together with others if invited and if it were convenient. You can help these fellow athletes [anyone who sweats in the name of exercise!] by sharing information about a group you belong to or by putting one together yourself.
When do you start from scratch?

• There is no club in your area.
• The groups in your area are not active enough, are too formal, or don’t have the kind of activities you want.
• You want to fill a niche that is unfilled by another club in your area, such as easier runs, specific age groups, weeknight runs, group runs, morning workouts, more social aspects of running together, etc.
• You want to build camaraderie among your jogging buddies with an identity, club name, t-shirts, tattoos, bumper stickers, etc.
• You want to add incentives to your running such as awards for distance achieved, best age-group times, or best race results.
• You’d like to be able to contact a friend at any time, to see if they’re up for a run that day or that weekend.

Ray Christensen is webmaster of FitnessBuildsHealth.com, a website devoted to motivating people to exercise for a better life. He is also author of "Run With Me: How To Start, Join, or Improve a Running Club", available at StartYourClub.com. He has run 10 marathons since 2002.

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