5 Steps To Starting Your Running Group

I love running. It was what made the big difference for me when I began to really lose weight. I found running to be a worthy challenge to pursue and an effective way to lose weight. While I did most of my running alone, I never enjoyed it as much as running with company. This is why I recommend starting your running group or joining an existing one.

In case you want to start your own running group and you’re wondering how to go about it to make sure it’s a success, you should go over the tips in this post and use them. You will find that it’s important to do this right to make the most of it.

Step #1 – Determine Your Goals

What do you want to achieve with your running? Are you running to lose weight, to get ready for a race, for general fitness? Before you begin recruiting members to your new running group, you need to know what you want to achieve with it. Your goal will determine the frequency of runs, the terrain you will run in, the nature of the workouts, etc. So, take a few minutes and write down what you want to achieve.

Step #2 – Determine Your Level

A running group needs to run as a group. Figures, right?

This means that you will run at the speed, pace and endurance of your weakest member. You won’t be able to leave someone to follow you half a mile to the rear. It just won’t happen.

This means that someone who isn’t fit enough will have trouble keeping up, while someone who is too fit will not get the kind of workout he or she is looking for.

The same goes for you. You need to figure out what your current fitness level is: how much do you run an at what pace? Once you figure this out, you’ll be better able to find more members for your group. If you don’t do this, your running group won’t last long.

Step #3 – Finding Suitable Runners To Join

You need to choose your running mates according to the following criteria:

• They have similar goals as you have. This will keep you guys in synch as to your running schedule and types of runs that you do.
• They have the time to do it. You don’t need to run exclusively with a group, but you do need to run together on a regular basis for this to actually count.
• They should be at a similar fitness level to yours or they should be fitter than you, but are willing to run slower than they are able to just for the company.
• They should be people you can get along with, have a laugh, etc.

To find other runners should not pose a big problem. You can do any one of the following:

• Place a flyer in a local church (or other place of worship), at a fitness center in your area, or at any other community center, asking people to join your group.
• Reach out to your friends and have them as their friends, and so on.
• Post a message about it on your social media websites such as Facebook or Twitter.
• Go to a running forum and find other people who want to join. Runners World has a forum or, if you’re in the UK, this seems like a good place to find friends.

Step #4 – Create a Schedule And Training Plan

While no one should be a dictator and tell everybody what to do, it’s important for one person to take control and create a workout schedule and training plan for the first few weeks of the group. This plan should include the training goal, times of runs, the location, etc.

If you don’t have this kind of plan, you may find that you’re not starting out as you should and your entire team can quickly fall apart. Someone needs to be decisive and set the tone, especially in the beginning. You can be this person.

Step #5 – Decide On a Size

Before you wind up with 50 people who all want to be in your group, you need to figure out the right size for your team. Too many people will make it hard to have a cohesive group that can train well together. Too few people and you may find yourself without sufficient members on certain runs.

Step #6 – Grow Together

You need to be open to changes in how your running group manages itself. Some members will drop off and new ones will need to be recruited over time. Your goals may change, whether your personal ones or your collective ones.

Be ready for these changes to occur and don’t be quick to fight them. Change is often a good thing and you should accept it and welcome it.

Step #7 – Keep Things Interesting

One of the keys to maintaining a running group is to keep things interesting. This includes signing to up to races as a team, setting up challenges for you all, running in a beautiful scenery and so on. If you take the initiative on this, other team members will follow suit.

At the end of the day, starting a running group is about having more fun and making your workouts more effective. Running is one of the best cardio workouts you can do to lose weight, get fit, strengthen your lower body, and improve your health. Remember to keep things light and you and your running mates should have a great time.