Ever find yourself in a community and realize it’s the right one for you? Well, I often find that happens in the running community, whether that is with your local running club, small group of mother runners, online chat groups or social media networks. The running community is no different then the cross fit community or triathlon community – we’re all nuts in our own ways 😉
Kidding aside, when you find a community that speaks to you, you embrace it and develop a sense of pride for those people around you (online and off). This year I feel like my running community has doubled or tripped between local clubs or online chat groups. I feel lucky to be involved in all these running communities and that has change the way I run.
I started a “Running: What I Love About” series. If you missed the first two, you can catch up here:
What I Love About The Running Community.
Running Clubs
To me, running clubs are the hub of a running community. Be it a group of 2-5 mother runners that meet every week while their children are with someone else or groups of 25-50 who meet at the local coffee shop after completing various distances, running clubs are their own community.
Meeting up for weekly runs become a tradition for lots of runners however it can also be the start of not only early morning runs but life-long friendships. You train together and go to races together. You meet up for a lunch time run since you work in the same area. You may even plan your weekend around your weekly run with your running club. They are important to you, running is important to you and the two just go hand and hand.
Running clubs are socials for the active-minded people who may or may not share a post-run adult beverage or brunch together. Members in the club can make you do things you didn’t think you’d want to do; like run a longer distance, sign up for a new race or dress up in a costume and run in it!
Met up with an old friend and new friend from TTP Running Club this summer.
I belong to a few running clubs though I rarely get out to run with them because of our family schedule. However, when I can get out to the runs, I’m welcomed like I’ve been there from the beginning only I get to introduce myself again to those I haven’t met at past events. Running clubs are welcoming and I love how they include everyone – at least that’s my experience.
I truly believe that running clubs can change your life. Whether it’s getting more active, losing some weight, making new friends or increasing your weekly mileage.
Social Media Groups
There are so many social media platforms out there now and to be honest, I find it hard to keep up. I’ve slowly increase which ones I use and I’ve decided not to add any more because I simply cannot keep up with it all.
At Bluenose Marathon speaking as part of a panel with these fine fella’s!
Some of the best running tips I’ve learned through social media; through this blog and others, RunATCan twitter chats, mother runner groups and Canadian Runner’s groups on Facebook. I’ve learned about training plans, fueling, tapering, cross training and about races around the world that have peaked my interest. I’ve met new friends and yes, they are friends. When you continually have conversations with them you build a relationship and end up asking how their race went.
Running Atlantic Canada {@RunATCan} is mainly those runners in Atlantic Canada who chat once a week on Sundays for an hour. There is usually a topic with 6 questions. This is where I learn about other races and what local runners are doing, where they are racing and even about products they love. It’s not exclusive to Atlantic Canadians so feel free to check them out on Twitter.
Bluenose Marathon with John Stanton & RunATCan peeps.Â
Thanks Paul for the photo – see runners are helpful when you lose your own photo, they share theirs with you 🙂
The other great part of this group is going to a local run and meeting up with them, waiting for them at the finish line or having them wait for you. You are apart of an online running community that moves into your “in-person” life at events or for meeting up for training runs.
Networking
One thing I love about running is the networking; whether that is for work or pleasure – you network when you run. You meet new people, you learn about a great place to have lunch or you discuss a project at work. In some cases in the running community you see race directors coming together, sharing ideas, promoting other events and even running of volunteering at other events.
Networking is about building up your community and the runners community always seems to be successful with this. It’s about building up your opportunities to train, to volunteer, to meet people, to challenge yourself and to learn from others.
Supportive
When you suddenly see yourself on the injured list, you start to question “why me”. What did you do, why did it happen to you, why now? Sometimes you’ll get an answer to your questions but there is a good change you might not. Your running buddy loses their partner, your office chat about your weekend runs are no longer, your blog updates about your increasing miles decrease in enthusiasm.
However, when you do becoming injured you suddenly become supported by more people the you think you know. Your encourage and offered tips on what to do, who to see, that your not alone. You feel that community around you.
When I had the opportunity to pace the 10k at Valley Harvest Marathon, I didn’t really think of how I could impact someone else’s run. Yes, I knew that people would want to finish before me, with me or close behind me. I was excited when I got an email from Sandye saying that she’d be keeping an eye out for me. What was even better was meeting her just before the 5k mark, chatting along the route and then seeing her finish well before me.
Though it was hard to hold back at the end of the 10k so I’d finish on time {1:09:59), I felt like I did the job I was supposed to do and supported the runners (community) to finish on time.
For me, the best thing about the running community is how supportive they are of one another. That could be the runners themselves or race directors. It could be waiting for your new friend to finish their race and celebrating with them. It could be learning about a new sports bra that won’t disappoint.
If you aren’t part of a running community, it’s time to get immersed.
Do you belong to a running club? How often do you go?
What’s your favourite online running community?
What do you get out of your running community?
Piper's Run 