A new drop-in club is helping runners through the darker months
◆ I’ve been brushing up on my drills and technique at a tough but fun session
Even if you’ve been a runner for years, there’s always something new to learn about our sport. Trotting solo is one of the great advantages of running, you don’t need to gather a team and book a court, you can just lace up your trainers and head off any time you like. But pounding the pavements alone without any structure to your runs isn’t likely to result in any demonstrable improvement, if that is what you are after, of course. Maybe you want to best your parkrun time, or dip below a certain number on your 10K.
Running clubs can seem a bit intimidating to the amateur athlete. But what’s this? A new drop-in running club on my side of town, which is friendly, cheap and incredibly motivating.
Fully qualified Scottish Athletics coaches Dom Godfrey and Alan Jeffrey led the first “enjoyably tough” training session of West of Edinburgh Running Club last month and were blown away by the numbers and the enthusiasm of the participants who came along. With a blog, facebook page and word of mouth as their recruitment drive they were expecting five or six runners rather than the 50 or so who congregated at the Winter Gardens car park at Saughton Park in a rainbow of hi vis on 11 January. Starting the journey to build a strong running community in the west of Edinburgh began with an energetic paarlauf relay, with runners making at least two new friends in the process.
January is a month for fitness resolutions but as the weeks pass and it remains dark and cold, the numbers at the park sessions have remained consistent, which is a testament to the joyful vibe and energetic approach set by Dom and Alan.
It’s all gone pretty quick pretty fast for the coaches, who are already welcoming a new jog leader to the pack with plans to encourage more to qualify. They need volunteers to join the committee, but mainly they want runners of all ages (only over 18s please due to insurance). You won’t be fastest, you won’t be the slowest, you’ll push yourself and you’ll have fun.
Where? Every Thursday night at 6.30pm at the Winter Gardens car park in Saughton Park, EH11 3BQ
How much? A voluntary £2 donation per session, www.werunclub.co.uk/