Social Movement
Community club London City Runners has proven to be a capital idea
London City Runners: the club for everyone has a smart new HQ
THE RUNNING CLUB London City Runners (LCR) has come a long way since May 2010, when a half-dozen runners would meet at founder Tim Navin-jones’ flat, drop off their stuff and head out for a run around the capital.
Fast-forward eight years: the club now has hundreds of members, holds three weekly running sessions and recently had its shiny new headquarters opened by Brendan Foster, long-distance legend and founder of the Great North Run.
At the same time, in important ways, the club hasn’t changed at all: it’s still free, friendly and open to everyone. This ethos means that, to its members, LCR has become much more than a means of getting fit.
‘The club has been responsible for nine marriages and three babies,’ says Tim, who runs the club with his partner, Kerry. ‘It’s a non-cliquey atmosphere. We have everyone from opera singers to binmen – and we stress the point that it doesn’t matter how fast you run, so long as you enjoy it.’
Having spent years meeting in the back rooms of a succession of pubs, LCR finally opened its own headquarters this year. Set in a railway arch in Bermondsey, south London, it’s the capital’s first dedicated running cafe. Tim poured his life savings into it, while many of the club’s members also donated sizeable sums to make it a reality.
‘We had people scrubbing the walls, doing the carpentry, teaching us how to run a bar – the goodwill has been incredible,’ says Kerry.
As well as being the meeting place for the club’s weekly sessions, the run-cafe has also been hosting inspiring talks from the likes of parkrun founder Paul Sinton-hewitt. The ambition, says Tim, is for it to become a hub for all things runningrelated. ‘When people think about running, and think about a place they want to talk about running, I want them to think about this club.’
Natascha Starr joined LCR two years ago, when she moved to London from California. ‘I wanted to meet new people and get back into running, and LCR was conveniently located and so welcoming,’ she says. ‘Most of my London friends have come through LCR – I think that’s typical of a lot of people that have joined the club.’
Will Dupre believes the new digs have taken the club to a different level. ‘It just makes you feel really proud as a member to have your own space,’ he says. ‘It’s rare for a community club to have something like this.’ As for his favourite session? ‘Intervals on a Thursday. It’s just banging round the Bermondsey Spa Gardens, a 333-metre concrete track. It’s bad for your knees but good for your training!’