How to Get Into Running
Run clubs in the capital have never been more popular
Obviously running is an intrinsic part of a run club – they are groups that people, runners, can join so they don’t have to run alone. For many, working out in a group environment makes it easier to exercise consistently, especially if there’s a purpose behind the training, like, say, running a marathon. But many of the coolest run clubs pounding the capital’s pavements put community front and centre next to running, and that’s what’s attracting new members.
Run clubs are just as much a place to have fun and socialise as they are about trying to shave a few seconds off a PB – there are run clubs that are focused around music, there are run clubs that move at a relaxed and conversational pace, there are run clubs that are the new nights out, there are run clubs centred around gratitude and coping with grief, and there are run clubs that end with a pint or a pastry. Whatever the ethos, these clubs are about creating safe spaces for people to meet and connect, which is already a hard thing to do in a big city, and harder still without involving alcohol.
We spoke to four run club founders to find out why they chose to start a run club and to get some top tips for those looking to start running.
Jake Williamson | BTND
What’s the vibe of the run club? Where do you run?
We’ve got five different run clubs, the main one is Birmingham city centre, so we run from Edgbaston stadium and we get anywhere between 60 – 100 people each week. Then we have Clapham, Amsterdam, New York and Nottingham. The biggest vibe and message we wanna send out is the inclusivity. Initially when run clubs started forming, they became a little bit too quick for people and people at the back were a little left behind, so what we do is more of a looped type run so that people feel they can get involved within a 30-minute period. The music stays quite central so everyone gets a part of that vibe and you can come, there’s no time pressure, you do your own pacing, we try and introduce people to new people, and then once a month we have a social as well.
When did you start running?
I’ve always run. I probably ran before I could walk! It’s been something that’s given me so much. It’s a big fear for some people, for me it was easy because I’ve always done it but for some it’s quite a challenge to put their shoes on, get out the door and run, so giving the opportunity for a safe space where people can do that and attempt it and try it, they might not like it but we can pretty much guarantee that you’ll come back again. That’s why the run club started.
What are some of the benefits of joining a run club?
Since Covid it became quite difficult to make friends. I moved up to Birmingham, I’m not from there originally, I moved up in Covid and didn’t really have any friends there so I was quite isolated in that period. Like having a drink is Dutch courage, if you do a bit of exercise I’m always like, ‘woah I can do anything, I feel so empowered’. Even if people don’t talk at the very beginning of the run, maybe they’re a little bit shy, they stand on their own, after the run everyone is talking to one another and the vibes are high and everyone’s got a bit of a glow, it’s creating that. Then next week you come back and the conversation before the run so it becomes a lot more inclusive, everyone starts talking and that’s the biggest benefit I’ve seen so far. Also for me, just a massive group of different people and bringing different cultures together. A lot of time in society we see groups form in their own natural kind of way so it’s quite nice to bring those different people together and get people exposed to different cultures and opportunities.
What have been some of the biggest highlights since you started the run club?
We’ve done a few big events now. The socials are my favourite, in Birmingham and Clapham we have the biggest social set up. In Birmingham we run for half an hour and then we go back to one of the pubs in town and we have a free drink and unlimited pizza. If you’re not really a runner you don’t have to run, you can just come for the social element and enjoy the pizza. What I’m most proud of is bringing those different groups together that might not have ever met each other before and might not have ever even run before. We have people that are doing 10-minute kilometres, we have people that are able to do three-minute kilometres, but bringing those groups together for half an hour of exercise in the middle of the week can really create a highlight for some people’s lives.
Apart from joining a run club, what are some top tips for people looking to get into running?
Partner up is always an easy way to do it, having that accountability. I’m the same if I go and train in the gym or I go and train somewhere else, if I have someone to tell me to get up and stop being lazy, I’m more inclined to do it. Or if I have someone that I’m meeting at half 6 in the morning before work and they’re relying on me to pick them up or go to their house to get out the door themselves, they’re way more likely to do it. That’s the biggest bit of advice for starting to be honest. Partner up, find someone, hopefully find someone who’s a little bit more enthusiastic about it than you are – if you’re both as bad as each other you’ll end up just going for a coffee. My mum and her friend have a plan on Wednesday to go out but I’m pretty sure they always end up opening a bottle of wine and doing that, so try and pick wisely with your partner!
Esmée Gummer | The Say Yes Club
What’s the vibe of the run club?
Over the course of it happening it started to be called a pub club, but you have to do 5k to get there so there’s like a buy-in of 5k. But you can walk it, jog it or run it, which is one of the things I absolutely love. When I came up with it, the reason I did that was because it wasn’t like beginner, intermediate, advanced, it was like what’s your vibe. Sometimes you just wanna walk. You don’t need to be like ‘oh I’m injured or this or that, I just wanna walk’. I wanted it to be social and a place of connection and there be no barriers, so I didn’t want it to be like you have to run to come. So yeah, pub club but you have to do 5k to get there, don’t care how you do it, just do 5k.
Where do you run?
So we meet in London Fields under the same tree every week and then we finish at a different pub in Hackney. It’s actually gone out towards Highbury & Islington as well, but basically it ends by an Overground stop so people can get home. That was my biggest thing, people getting home on their own, so we always end near a pub near an Overground stop.
Why did you start running?
I used to run growing up, I actually ran when it was not cool. I ran when people would be like, ‘you’re going for a run, you’re a loser’. When I was 18 I had an accident and I learned to walk again and I had six years off running. So it took me six years to finally get back into running again. I found running in 2017, 2018, and my mate was like ‘do you wanna run a marathon’ and I was like ‘yeah!’. Running is part of me, it’s my freedom and it’s my measurement, if I can run then I’m doing ok because I couldn’t run before, so if I’m running, I’m good.
Why did you decide to start a run club?
If I’m totally honest, the reason I started my own club is because I was quite fed up of run clubs and what I was seeing. Now it’s a bit different which is amazing, and listen, I love that people are doing things and getting people moving, but the barrier to entry was pace and time. I’m a personal trainer and too many of my clients were coming to me and being like ‘I went to this run club and couldn’t keep up’ or ‘I went to this run club and they said they were gonna go at my pace and they didn’t and I was left at the back and I didn’t wanna run’. I was fed up with people saying they hated running. You don’t hate running, you just hate how you’re doing it or why you’re doing it. If I can create a space where people can actually understand why running is fun, then I wanna do that. I did it to help people understand what running can be.
What are some of the benefits of joining a run club?
Massively the benefits are the people you meet. It’s unbelievable, the connection and the community. The social connection, community and friend-making is the important part. The movement is just something I want to prioritise. Really it’s better than people walking from their desk to the pub and sitting back down. The movement part is just to get people to their friends. I’ve had groups of people go on holiday together, go out on a Friday night, they’ve got WhatsApp groups that I’m not in, bit jealous! But yeah as cheesy as it sounds, helping people find friends has been the best part about it.
What have been some of the highlights since you started the run club?
I mean stuff like that. There was this group of girls, they all came on their own on the first one and now they’re a group on WhatsApp. I remember they said, it was about six weeks into coming, ‘oh we’re going salsa on Friday night’, I was like ‘what?!’, ‘yeah we’ve just decided to go to a salsa night’, so that’s massively been a highlight. Also because of the club we’ve ended up doing some really cool stuff together. We went to Ibiza to run the marathon together, 26 people from the community came, it was unreal. We’ve done weekenders out of London, we’ve been to Margate, Marlow in Henley, got massive Airbnbs. So yeah highlights have been creating these friendship circles where you’re doing stuff that you all love.
The club isn’t women-only is it?
It’s for everyone and anyone. Like I said, the massive thing for me is a barrier to entry so if someone’s like ‘I can’t even walk’, I’m like ‘ I’ll push you’. It’s just a space where everyone can come. Obviously because I’m a girl I attract a lot more females but the men are bringing up the ratio, they’re bringing it in and it’s great and people are starting to appreciate that. In the beginning there was one man and then he wouldn’t come and another man would come, and I was like ‘there is another man but he’s not come this week’ but now they’ve formed an alliance and they come.
What are some of your top tips for someone looking to get into running?
If you went out on a run, whatever you start running it, slow it down by like 30 seconds. Even if you think it feels fine because after five minutes you’ll be like ‘I hate this’. Go slower than you think. Also you don’t have to just run. Go out, walk, try a little jog, walk again, try a little jog, try and close down the gaps in between. Finding a mate that will do it. Obviously run clubs are cool but if you know you’re meeting someone to go and do it, that’s such an amazing feeling and you don’t wanna let them down if they’re waiting for you. And I would try and start when it’s warm so that you do it when it’s cold, if you try and start in the winter you just won’t do it.
Saheed Mustapha | Rep Runners
What’s the vibe of the run club? Where do you run?
The vibe is come with a smile and we’ll make you smile, hopefully from ear to ear. We run out of the New Balance store on Oxford Street every Tuesday at 6.30pm. We run the river, we run Hyde Park, we run Regent’s Park, basically week by week we do a different part of London and just see what people take to.
How did you get into running?
Oh god, by accident! I tried to stay fit for football and I joined a run club twelve years ago now. I thought I was gonna die and I only ran 4k, and then at the end of the run I realised I wasn’t gonna die so I came back the following week. By fate I caught the running bug and it never left. I started Rep Runners seven years ago, I wanted to provide a space for people who wanted to run. It’s a safe space for everyone to come and find like-minded people, have fun, run and stay fit.
What are some of the benefits of joining a run club?
Community spirit definitely. I think we’ve developed a unique style of family that loves each other but also push each other. Everyone brings a different level of energy that’s very much needed.
What have been some of the highlights since you started the run club?
Our first trip away. Amsterdam 2018, that was pretty cool, we did the marathon weekend there. Every London marathon is epic, it’s just like Christmas for us. New Balance as a brand is really, really supportive. And yeah just the people, we exist because of them and for them, and without them it would just be me on my own talking to myself. Everyone here has been through it with us.
Do a lot of your runners run the London marathon?
Yeah, I’ve run it twice, we’ve had people run it every year. This year we had about twelve of us do it but we do other marathons around the world. We’ve done New York as a group, Barcelona, Valencia, they’re doing Amsterdam again without me. We do get out and about as much as we can and we always support each other in each race, especially the London ones. We cheer, we support everyone, it’s a proper family vibe.
What are some of your top tips for someone looking to get into running?
Start small and enjoy it. If you’re not enjoying it then you’re never going to want to do it. If you start small you can build up your tolerance to enjoy it. Like I said, on my first run I wanted to curl up and die, and I’ve never looked back since. And as you get into it, depending on how seriously you want to take it, you’ll start to get the kit, you’ll start to get footwear, socks are very important! By osmosis, you’ll naturally get into running but you have to enjoy it first.
Jonty Brown | Runlimited
What’s the vibe of the run club? Where do you run?
We run every Thursday morning at 7am from Mare Street Market. We do a track session so all abilities welcome, no one gets left behind, everyone can come and do their own thing, it’s a big family vibe. It started out, I was actually working in Mare Street Market as a barber and one of my client’s partners needed someone to run with on a dark morning and I said I would, and then me and (co-founder) Molly Bryan gathered the troops and now we’re Runlimited.
How did you get into running?
I started running in lockdown and then 18 months later I became the first Type 1 diabetic to run across the UK. I’ve always wanted to do something a bit different and really challenge myself but I also wanted to raise money for JDRF because I’m type 1 diabetic myself so I combined the two and got wildly addicted, and now running is my life.
What are some of the benefits of joining a run club?
London can be quite a lonely place, especially if you work from home or you’ve moved to the city, and it’s a nice way to connect with people, especially people that you wouldn’t necessarily meet before. I’ve made some of my closest friends through run clubs and the running community in London. It’s an amazing way to meet people, to get out of your head, to bring some energy toward yourself and put a smile on your face. It’s really good clarity. I find that heading out, be it on your own or with people, you never regret a run, you always end up with a smile on your face at the end of it. And obviously, health.
What have been some of the highlights since you started the run club?
I’ve travelled all over the world with it, I’ve met some incredible people, been to some amazing places. Now we’re opening Runlimited at the end of the year as a community-focused run hub, a run hub that’s connecting all run clubs together. We’re a multi-brand retailer but it is mainly for the community. It’s a place for everybody, there’ll be a bag drop so run clubs can come and use the space whenever they want. It’s connecting more people with brands, with different communities, with clubs, with runners and giving a bigger space for more people so it’s easier for people to find a run club for themselves.
What are some of your top tips for someone looking to get into running?
Start off slow. Don’t do what I did and go too hard because you’ll end up with injuries. Take your time, enjoy it, don’t worry about other people and what they’re doing, you purely have to focus on yourself. Get out and move. Have fun. Every pace has a place.