What?
A free, all-inclusive, weekly running group.
The Run is 20 mins out, 20 mins back – we start together and everyone turns at 20 minutes and heads back, which means we finish around the same time.
When?
Every Wednesday @ 5:45pm – rain, hail or shine
Where?
How do I join?
Just turn up and run!
More about RunClub…
Staying motivated in winter can be a battle. I thrive on sunlight and, during the winter months at our 41 degrees south latitude, we don’t get anywhere near enough. By the time August rolls around, I’m hanging on, waiting for spring to arrive.
This year, I preempted the ‘winter blues’ and decided to get some running buddies.
For a while, Hobart and Launceston have had a Wednesday run group, organised by their resident specialty running store. On the North West coast, we lack a specialty running store (seriously, someone please start one!) and so this concept had not been introduced. Until now….
Seeing the success of my local Devonport parkrun, we knew there were plenty of runners around, and so put the word out to see who wanted to run together, one night a week.
The tried and tested formula of an ‘out and back’ run has been successful. Starting together, running for 20 minutes at an individual pace, turning and running back for 20 minutes would mean that regardless of how far you ran, we’d all finish together as a group.
We decided to call it Runphoria RunClub and scheduled the first run to occur on Wednesday 12th April – this week we’ll run our 20th consecutive RunClub.
Attendance has been huge – way more than expected. First night we had over 20 runners, with an average of 50 per week since. Trying to accurately count attendees proved too difficult with too many blurry pre-run pics, heads behind heads in photos and latecomers, but check out the gallery below to see the awesome crew of regulars!
In our second week in we were gifted with a dozen head torches by Gosso – one of our most enthusiastic runners (and 2IC!). We needed them – winter was quickly approaching – and we’ve been very grateful ever since.
RunClub has been a fantastic motivational tool during the winter. There have been days I’ve may not have felt like running, or its been too cold – but knowing that I have a group I’ve committed to run with on Wednesdays has meant ‘no excuses’.
It’s a good feeling to hear stories of runners who, until RunClub, had a run tally of one per week – usually parkrun. But now that they were regulars at RunClub – this number had increased to 2 runs, A 100% increase is pretty awesome.
I’ve heard stories of runners training to undertake their first half marathons, those who come and run RunClub as part of a much longer training session for their marathon training, and post-run chats about getting that little bit further along the track than last week.
At the end of a RunClub run, there’s an amazing vibe…people finish their run with a breathless smile. They look around and offer congratulations to each other. Pretty soon, groups form and conversations can be overheard about how it felt, what was encountered, personal bests (or worsts) and (super-importantly) what’s for dinner! I often stand and just listen – loving the fact that something as basic and primal as running can bring all of these people together. It’s a mushy feel-good thing…I’m a huge softie, really!
So where to with RunClub?
As dark as it is in winter, living at this latitude does have its benefits. We have some amazingly long days in our spring and summer months. So, as we become less constrained by daylight (or lack of it), we can branch out and run more of the tracks that we are spoilt with around Devonport. We start and finish at a gorgeous seaside spot at The Bluff complete with great facilities – change rooms (with hot showers) and barbecues, so a post-run swim and sausage sizzle isn’t out of the question!
And moving forward, people with specific interests in trails, long runs or speed work will be welcome to join in on other regular arranged sessions with RunClub – all free and wholly inclusive.
The community of running – sharing and collaborating – is a fantastic thing to be part of; and Runphoria RunClub is all about enhancing that community in our local area.
