Couperwife Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 Right, this is the story. Im in a running club, and im a notoriously slow runner (life gets in the way, and im sooo not a compulsive person, it doesnt take much to distract me from something ) anyway, i havent been running for ages, went back to the running club last week. so, to cut a rather long story short, I was running at the back of everyone and ended up running on my own (cos all of the quicker runners - including captain and lady captain) had run past me so, for about 2 miles I ran on my own, now I can run on my own from home, so why do I join the club???, no, thats not the advice I need can anyone suggest a way to keep slower runners in a "team" and safe. the suggestion last year was that a quick runner stay at the back and run with the slower ones, in a sort of rotation order (like a sweeper), but the captain was unwilling to support this and no other ideas could be thought up. so, what do we do? any ideas? (apart from sack the captain ) thanks cathy x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angels4 Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 I rather like the idea of a quicker runner staying at the back as a sort of "sweeper" to help keep the group together. A running club to me means you are working as a team and there is no "I' in team everybody should be working together to reach your common goals. If that fails the only other option I see is to "sack" the captian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redhotchick Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 Run in some kind of loop where the fastest runner catches up with the slower runners? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 I am a slow runner and if I run with OH he goes ahead and then keeps doubling back to keep me company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Couperwife Posted September 17, 2009 Author Share Posted September 17, 2009 I am a slow runner and if I run with OH he goes ahead and then keeps doubling back to keep me company. I like this idea (but i agree with mark - sack the captain ) cathy x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angels4 Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 Run in some kind of loop where the fastest runner catches up with the slower runners? I like this idea too.... Why didn't I think of it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkysmum Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Hi Cathy, I used to run in a group before other things got in the way. We did a couple of things to keep everyone together The slower runners (me and a few others) ran out ahead and after a few mins the faster group (young fit people ) tried to catch us up. They always did ,and we ran the remaining distance together. Always have a back marker, a faster runner who runs at the back. The faster runners could take turns in doing this. Take turns at the front including the slowest. Elitist runners really annoy me & I would rather run on my own than with them. As the evenings get darker it's not safe to leave people at the back to run on their own. Club running should be about having others to run with not compete with Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Elitist runners really annoy me & I would rather run on my own than with them. As the evenings get darker it's not safe to leave people at the back to run on their own. Club running should be about having others to run with not compete with Exactly! That's why I run on my own now... it's all about egos in clubs, not about looking out for each other and helping out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 I much prefer running on my own too. With just my MP3 player for company . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 I prefer running with my dog, she comes back at intervals to check on me and doesn't care how slow I am as it means that she is out for longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlo Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 I used to go along to a running club held at my health club. I am VERY slow and to be honest - hate running with a passion - so I was always at the back. However, I was never left alone. We would jog all together to a place chosen by the instructor and she would set us to do reps according to our ability. The venue varied and would either be a field where she would set out cones in laps of various sizes or a loopy path (in a place that we dubbed the killing fields!) or just a footpath somewhere. When we had finished the reps we woul jog home and she would always make sure that she was with the back marker - and yes - that was always me! If it is just a long run all together and you are only doing it for company, is there not someone like minded (and like paced) who you could do it with? It doesn't sound like much of a club to me I now go out occasionally on my own as I have got even slower and would be embarrassed to join the club again. I don't use an MP3 anymore as an acquaintance of mine was killed when crossing the main road up near the club and that freaked me out. When I do go for walks and jogs, the roads are quite narrow and I like to hear what's around me. I do miss the music though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 I don't use an MP3 anymore as an acquaintance of mine was killed when crossing the main road up near the club and that freaked me out. How awful . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackrocksrock Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Much as I would love to I could not run to save my life! Would need to lose a lot of weight and sort out my bad knees Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeckyBoo Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 The only times I have run as part of a group were in the TA ( ) and in the Police, and we were always taught to run at the pace of the slowest man. You should never leave one behind, besides, it's not good manners! Presumably you're all there because you want to be part of a running club, if they want to go fast they should start a "Fast Runners" group! Maybe sometimes they could all run at your pace, sometimes they could run a relay back to you, or you could just sack the captain! BeckyBoo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlo Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 I don't use an MP3 anymore as an acquaintance of mine was killed when crossing the main road up near the club and that freaked me out. How awful . It was terrible. She was only young and she had just crossed the A30 without really looking. There was nothing that the driver could do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Couperwife Posted September 18, 2009 Author Share Posted September 18, 2009 I don't use an MP3 anymore as an acquaintance of mine was killed when crossing the main road up near the club and that freaked me out. How awful . It was terrible. She was only young and she had just crossed the A30 without really looking. There was nothing that the driver could do. there is actually a policy with the Athletics association to try to ban runners from running with MP3 players for just this reason , it must be a little bit more frequent than it should be its so sad cathy x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
