A.J.’s Journeys: Joining a Running Club

Posted September 5, 2007 at 02:00 PM by Katie Drummond

Section: Her Fitness, Athletics, Training Programs, Her Motivation, Special Features

The following article was submitted by A.J. Melnikas. A.J. Melnikas currently works in clinical research. In the past, she has worked with non-profit health organizations targeting women’s and adolescent health issues. She will begin MPH studies in the fall. An avid runner and coach, A.J. has completed 4 marathons and is planning to run Boston next year. Her cultural adventures include studying in Spain, South Africa and Nepal; teaching English in China and traveling to France, Belize, Japan, Swaziland and the Dominican Republic.

In this new series, A.J. takes readers along for the ride as she moves to New York City and searches out the perfect running club. In part I, A.J. goes over what she needs out of a workout facility, and offers a sense of what any woman might want from their local gym.

One of the first things my friends asked when they found out I was moving to New York was “where will you run?” I guess they know me pretty well, and can’t imagine I’d be content to workout on a machine most days. It’s true that I always prefer the outdoors to a gym. That being said, I can’t count the number of times people have warned me about running alone in New York City. Now, you must understand that I am a cautious person; I look both ways before crossing the street, I check the locks on my door before going to sleep and I avoid running in sketchy areas. However, don’t run alone in Central Park...even when it’s light outside? I can understand being wary of running alone at night, or in the early morning before there are other people pounding the pavement. As a general rule it’s a good idea to run in areas frequented by others, but how could I possibly find people to run with more than once a week? And then it came to me - join a club.

I’ve never been in a running club. I’ve run for teams at school and I’ve even coached at a high school, but I have never lived anywhere that I felt the need to join a club before now. The thing that kept me from joining running clubs in the past was that I never had a question about where to run. Even living in Boston, there were areas nearby that were great for running. Also, my training was not so serious that I needed a coach.  What changed? In the past two months, I’ve qualified for the Boston marathon, moved to New York and, for once, I have no idea where to run and where to do my track workouts.  I need help. Joining a running club seems like a good idea.

But how do you go about joining a running club? The first thing I did was Google “nyc running clubs,” or something similar to learn about the clubs. New York Road Runners lists many clubs in New York and links to their websites. I did a little reading about the clubs and a lot of thinking about what I wanted to get out of joining one. I figured out that the following things would be most important to me:

Proximity

Where do the practices take place? How far is it from my apartment? Can I run to the practices/meetings? Anything that is too far away would automatically mean that I’d be less likely to attend.

Demographics of team members

I don’t want to be the oldest or youngest, one of the only women, or the only full-time student trying to train for races. It would also be nice to not be the only NYC newbie.

Race times

I perused the results on the NYRR website to see how fast the team members could run. I am looking for a team where I would start as a middle-of-the-pack runner and have enough fast runners ahead of me to push me in practice and races.

Long runs

Does the club have organized weekend long runs? Also, it is important to find members with similar marathon times so that I can train with them on these runs, since it’s much easier to pass the time on a 20-mile run if you have people to train with. Speed work

I just recently got back into adding a speed work session to my training and I’ve really noticed a difference. I’m looking for a club that has a coach to plan workouts and meets during a time that works in my schedule. Another thing to consider is whether the team has access to an indoor track during the winter months.

Personal Relationships & Networking

What do the team members do when they aren’t running? Will I be able to relate to them outside of running? Can I make some professional contacts as well?

Cost/Dues

How much does it cost per year? Does that include indoor track time and personal coaching? Which race fees (if any) are covered?

These are all things to consider as I begin the process of finding a running club to fit my needs. If you’re considering joining a club in your area there may be other things that are important to you. The best advice I can give is to do your homework, and get as much information as possible before choosing. You may want to attend a few different workouts with different clubs to compare so you can make an informed decision.