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Running clubs, running group, persuading group members and growing your run club – there’s a lot to think about so let’s do it.
The best things are shared in life, so they say. When it comes to fitness I completely understand that it’s subjective; having to run with somebody less capable than you can be a nightmare. But at the end of the day, if you want to inspire, develop and cultivate growth, if you want to enjoy your fitness highs and lows with others then starting a running club could be the best move you’ve ever made.
Okay, I admit – it can be a little trickier than you think…
You may have to do more than put a little flyer up in your local running store to get members engaged, but that doesn’t mean you should give up. If you want to encourage members you’ll have to encourage yourself.
Most people want to go on group runs, it’s just about helping them to find your running club or running group. So let’s help them do that now.
Get your shoe in the door
You don’t want to spend some money on advertising, branding or social media work only to fall flat and have no one turn up. You need to put in the work and gather your members before you release the club’s inception. A running club is a group of people, so figure out who you want, where you should get them from and the best places to host them. New runners want a community, so start simple with a group page to get new members and give running groups a place to gather (online that is)
Medium sees it like this, ”Share the idea with some running friends, and begin meeting for runs over the course of a few weeks. After formulating a schedule, ask friends to bring another friend. Once a bit of momentum is established, start brainstorming the name together.”
So give your club members a sense of togetherness and start including them in the building of the group straight away.
Purposeful design
Should your club just be running for the sake of running?
Whether it’s to try something absurd like a new line of running shoes or to create a closed group that focuses purely on building runners’ confidence, you need to decide what to go for. You could get everyone to compete in local races for charity or maybe you could try and get everybody to go pro. Either way, different people have different ideas of what they want to do, and different ideas of why they should join.
Conclusion
Other than these two aspects, you should think about branding, name, area of coverage, club’s logo and so on. You need to think about how often you’ll meet and where you’ll run, who to include and how everyone would get on. there’s a lot to it, but if you put in the work you can make your dream happen.
FAQs
Will running stores take my advertisements?
It depends on the store. Ask nicely to find out.
