One of the clubs applied for the 2019 England Athletics Club Run was Ealing, Southall & Middlesex AC (aka ESM). ESM is a sociable, friendly, community-based club open to everyone located in Ealing, West London. The club offers road running and senior and junior track & field athletics to suit all abilities, from beginner to seasoned regular.

While the club has already a healthy athletics section, the road runners welcomed additional coaching support. Ealing’s road running section consists of 150 England Athletics affiliated runners, qualified coaches and run leaders. ”The Club Run sessions has given us an outside-in view and has assured us that we provide the right training platform for our members.”, said Ealing Membership Secretary Fiona Kennedy. Endurance Running coach Urban Bettag delivered three coached sessions and a training seminar for athletes, coaches, run leaders and officials. Over three months, three coached sessions were scheduled at Ealing’s training base in Perivale, West London. During the first session, using a loop course around Perivale Park athletes practised pacing and establish their training paces. ”It was a pleasure delivering the Club Run programme to Ealing, Southall & Middlesex. It was great to see all ages, abilities and aspirations coming together and enjoy training on a warm summer evening.”, says Coach Urban Bettag. The subsequent sessions built on the structure of the first session and were performed on the Perivale Track. With the club’s focus on the Summer 10k Series, the volume of work was slightly increased, though paces have been aligned towards the 10k. Road running coach Lynn Wilson summarised, ”I did enjoy participating in the sessions and liked the variation of reps on offer, together with the structure of the evenings. It was good to get everyone working together on those drills and the group stretching worked out well and gave us a chance to ask questions and reflect on the workout”.

During the training seminar, Coach Urban Bettag guided training progressions and adopted a long-term plan supporting seasonal and annual club targets. ”Often, runners adopt a more tactical approach and train for the next weekend race only. During the seminar we took a step back, looked at the performance demands of the 10k event in a broader context and explored what opportunities clubs have to tailor their training to help athletes peak.”, said Coach Urban.

Most of the road runners took part in the Summer League 10k Series and saw the Club Run initiative as an opportunity to sharpen up. The sessions have been attended on average by 30 athletes at all ability levels. The main 10k specific workout was tailored based on ability level. With a group warm-up and stretching component, the Ealing road runners had the opportunity to give feedback and ask questions at the end of the session.

Clubs are in the heart of England Athletics. Club Run is a free initiative by England Athletics for off-track and road running clubs. On an annual basis, interested England Athletics affiliated clubs can apply to take part in the Club Run programme. Since its inception in 2017, more than 100 clubs participated. The club support programme targets running clubs and involve runners, support coaches and run leaders. A specialist endurance running coach will work together with local club coaches within their familiar training environment and deliver a fun and fulfilling coached session for the club’s chosen event on a regular club night. The focus is on providing support, assurance, maybe a different perspective and best practices in delivering coached sessions.

One of the clubs successfully applied in 2018 for the Club Run scheme was the Fulham Running Club. Fulham Running Club is an inclusive and friendly running club, established in 2004, which has seen significant growth over the past couple of years. The club has gone from around 35 to nearly 200 England Athletics registered athletes in the past 2 years. Its social media presence is equally impressive with almost 2000 members on their highly active Facebook group. Fulham has a wide range of abilities with many competitive members taking part in races from 400m to ultra-marathon distance.

For the Fulham Running Club it all started informally, local runners organised a running meet up in 2004 and kept going. The club operates a flat organisation and anyone can join for free. Being friendly, inclusive and growing organically, not at least through their signature black-and-white running vest got the club recognised in running fixtures in and around London. As the club colours hint, the members refer themselves as Bandits (running for cover). The club ethos is welcoming and informal.

When Endurance Running Coach Urban Bettag stepped on the Barn Elms Track in Barns to meet the Bandits on their Tuesday track night, a positive vibe and infectious team ethos were almighty. Speaking to the runners, the level of aspiration was immense. Some completed an ultra-distance run, while others took part in the Vitality 10000m or take part in the local Fulham Palace parkrun. Regardless of ability level, aspiration or favourite distance, the Bandits make you feel welcome.

“All three delivered coached sessions were memorable”, said Coach Urban. Once the Bandits are on the run, there is no stopping them! Throughout the three Club Run sessions the 25-30 athletes attended the coached session. The athletes conducted a dynamic warm-up and performed a series of running form drills. The main sessions were kept challenging and all ability levels were engaged. The highlight was a ladder session with decreasing distance and recoveries followed by a Paarlauf. Maddie Marriage, Trevor Ingram and Bob Empson have coaching responsibilities in the club and were supporting the sessions.” The support and camaraderie in the club was excellent. Everyone threw themselves 100% into the sessions.”, said Coach Urban Bettag.

” Fulham Running Club were delighted to be selected for the Club Run program. Our 3 sessions with Coach Urban were highly anticipated and well attended by the “bandits”. Coach Urban was professional, yet approachable and friendly, and his sessions were engaging and informative. Our run leaders who attended the sessions were given lots of new ideas for session content and delivery, which they will be able to implement themselves in the future. Many thanks!”, Maddy Marriage, Fulham Running Club Captain

The West 4 Harriers are a small, very friendly, sociable running club with a keen competitive ethos based in Chiswick. The club has 125 members and caters for a wide range of abilities, from beginners to seasoned marathon/ultra-runners. More recently the West 4 Harriers had their 30th anniversary. Initiated by a small number of competitive endurance runners, the club grew steadily and became more broad-based. The West 4 Harriers are known for their Fuller’s Thames Towpath 10 mile race within the wider local running community,

Nick Lines, chairman of the West 4 Harriers underlines the motivation for taking up the England Athletics Club Run programme.” Suppose our growth continues and we remain successful. In that case, we might in due course need to develop new styles of delivering training to best satisfy the varied needs of our members in terms of pace group and distance objectives (miler up to ultra-marathoner). We think that the support, experience and motivation that an England Athletics Club Run programme would enable us to take the next steps and to grow the local running community.”, says Nick Lines.

Together with West 4 Harriers’ Coaching Coordinator Adrian Smith, Club Run Coach Urban prepared three inclusive running sessions. The sessions catered for up to 25 runners with a wide range of abilities and scheduled between October and December. Autumn/Winter training sessions are typically restricted by daylight and constraint by space for warm-ups and running form drills. Part of the Club Run ethos is to adjust a session plan and make it work within the club’s familiar training environment.

The first session was a hill session in Richmond Park. The group started with a warm-up jog from the Chiswick Cricket Club to the Sheen Gate. Once there, the group performed dynamic stretches, running form drills and strides before embark for the main session. The session aimed to improve the athlete’s technical hill running ability. Steep hill running, hill bounding and hill springing exercises alternated by downhill running and a set of strides for leg speed development. While visibility was poor, the group made up for it by using head torches.

For the second session, it was back onto the track at the familiar OsterleyAthletic Track. This time, the focus was on speed quickness and agility. While the majority of athletes were aerobically well-conditioned, re-enforcing physical literacy can be beneficial. The club purchased a couple of speed agility ladders, which provide an effective means to develop coordination and priming the nervous system. The group had great fun and found the drills highly energising. The main session consisted of continuous pair relay with decreasing and increasing intervals before and after.

The quiet roads around the Chiswick Bridge served as an ideal venue for a fartlek session. Fartlek is Swedish for” speed play” involving continuous running and alternating the running pace.” Cut-downs”, a variant of a fartlek session, included decreasing time-based faster efforts followed by short recoveries. The format worked well for the small group whenever the group changed from fast running to a recovery jog the group changed directions, which made the session more inclusive while challenging for some of the quicker runners.

West 4 Harriers got a lot out of the England Athletics Club Run. After the final session, we wrapped up and concluded a meeting amongst club coaches and run leaders would be beneficial to discuss what training can look like for spring.

“I thoroughly enjoyed visiting the West 4 Harriers. Many thanks to all the runners involved embracing the session and making me feel welcome. We covered all bases, from running with head torches in Richmond Park to fun agility ladder work to the whistle fartlek. The club is in a strong position to build on its volunteer coaches who have done a great job this year in delivering structured running sessions. Many thanks to coaching coordinator Adrian Smith and club chair NickLines who helped with the preparation.”, said coach Urban Bettag.

The Clapham Chasers (aka ”Chasers”), identifiable by their blue-white- green coloured vest and bobble hats, are a Running and Triathlon club with more than 1000 members based in South-West London.

Initiated by a group of local runners back in 2005, the Clapham Chasers soon affiliated with England Athletics and experienced rapid growth over the next 15 years.

While there have been many notable performances by ”Chasers” in running and triathlon, most recently, at a national level, the Clapham Chasers’ women marathon team won the England Athletics Team Marathon championships.

The ”Chasers” base their self-understanding on the three pillars. The social aspect, inclusiveness and ambition. They provide support for a broad audience wanting to improve their running, cycling and swimming throughout the Wandsworth, Lambeth and Battersea catchment area. Often big groups of Clapham Chasers can be spotted training at Battersea Park on and off-track on a Sunday long runs around Richmond Park.

While experiencing a surge in memberships, the Clapham Chasers reached out to England Athletics and applied for the Club Run scheme. There is already an enthusiastic and keen training group in place. Many ”Chasers” take part in the Tuesday track session. The sessions have been top-rated. Consequently, the club is now considering offering another quality session on a weekday night. In preparation for the annual Clapham Chasers Summer 5k, England Athletics deployed Endurance Coach Urban Bettag. Coach Urban has worked along with Cathryn Rees, newly qualified Coach in Running Fitness (CiRF) with the preparation of the Thursday ”Super” Track sessions.

As part of the Club Run, participating clubs will work together with a specialist endurance coach and deliver three regular quality sessions in support of the chosen running event. The ”Chasers” were no short of enthusiasm and determination. The sessions helped to address the athlete’s development needs and introduce best practice. For example, athletes were guided through a dynamic warm-up routine including mobility exercises, dynamic stretches and running form drills. A well-structured warm-up ensures athletes take the time to prepare for a quality session and avoid injury. During the sessions, we developed pacing, breathing and good running form.

”Chasers” felt these sessions helped them to get a different perspective on how they approach training and understand the benefits of a more structured session. The sessions introduced a sense of mentorship due to time constraints is not always a big part during a regular club night. Coaches were working with athletes and give them feedback on their form. ” Running faster is as much about becoming more efficient as it is about improving your cardiovascular capabilities.”, stated a Thursday night regular Chaser.

Quality sessions and interval training can be a daunting experience. The open and friendly training environment gave athletes a confidence boost. Having completed and executed the session well gave the Chasers a sense of accomplishment and motivation for future workouts. Some athletes saw immediate improvements in their 5k times, parkrun and the Chasers 5k.

”These sessions helped to ease me into more intensive track sessions and get comfortable with running harder. The smaller groups allowed for some individual pointers which I was able to apply in subsequent races (5k and 1 mile), with PBS in both. They were fun, despite the hard work! Thanks.”

”I am pleased to have taken part in this series. I think it has done wonders for my confidence and I have enjoyed taking part in sessions that I otherwise would not have tried (such as the last session, which was more geared towards middle distance running). The warm-ups were informative, and I now make time for these exercises before track sessions. I have taken a minute off my 5k PB this year, which I’m absolutely thrilled about. Thanks very much Cathryn and Urban for all your support.”

Coach Urban summarised, ”I enjoyed working with the Chasers. The group fully embraced the Club Run ethos and were focused during the sessions to get the most out of it. I was impressed by how everyone conducted themselves. Over time and with Cathryn leadership, I am confident that we will see more improvements from the training group.”

The ‘Pioneers’ are a friendly running community-based in the heart of Clapham, south-west London. The club is made up of sociable people who love running. All abilities are welcome during for their Tuesday club night around the Clapham Common.

The England Athletics Club Run scheme provides a series of three visits from an England Athletics Coach, over a three-month period. The aim is to provide some additional coaching to club members and to support coach development.

London-based running coach Urban Bettag visited the Pioneers on their Tuesday night Club Run on three occasions. In anticipation of the spring half marathons/marathons, the Pioneers usually experience a big turnout on Tuesdays and fully embraced the Club Run idea. The average turnout throughout the three Club Run sessions were 50 runners, with a maximum attendance of 70 runners.

Together with the Clapham Pioneers Head Coach the content and format of the Club Run sessions were agreed. Many of the Clapham Pioneers prepare for a spring half marathon, specifically the Surrey Half-Marathon. The Pioneers wanted to use the Club Run sessions to prepare them more specifically for the half marathon.

The sessions were aimed at helping prepare runners for the half marathon distances. The first session introduced the Pioneers to varying the tempo around the half-marathon pace to improve the ability to tolerate lactate and ability to sustain a faster pace for longer. Two weeks later, the session was followed up with by a progressive interval session (aka ‘Crescendo Run’) with increasing tempos to simulate a fast finish in the half marathon. The final coached session was tempo/cruise interval session, which helped the group to run more by feel and listening to their breathing while maintaining a half marathon pace.

Coach Urban who is one of a team of around 30 England Athletics Club Run coach deliverers commented: ‘I really enjoyed visiting the Clapham Pioneers. The turnout we had on three occasions exceeded my expectations. Everyone worked really hard on the night. Not just the athletes, everyone involved with the organisation of the session. We critically reviewed each of the sessions and made changes for the next session based on the feedback.’

Trent Park RC, as the name suggests, is based around Trent Park and has its headquarters at the Southgate Hockey Centre. Ed Simmons, the club’s Coaching Coordinator applied for the free programme for England Athletics affiliated clubs with the aim of how the club can develop their runners for the Mid-Week Road Race League (typically 10k road races) and improved their running sessions.

England Athletics qualified endurance running coach Urban delivered three sessions on behalf of England Athletics Club Run Programme. The three sessions were well attended. More than 80 members attended the three sessions in total with an average attendance of 30 runners per session.

• Session 1: Mixed Intervals (Short/Long) on a hilly route
• Session 2: Fartlek Session (Monaghetti Style) in the park
• Session 3: Fartlek Session in the park

The three structured sessions consisted of a dynamic warm-up, running drills, a main session around the park followed by a group stretching activity.

“I wanted to make sure the session is inclusive and cater for a wide range of abilities. A fartlek type session around the park worked really well, giving opportunities for the faster runners while others running a moderate tempo can be part of the session too.”

Coach Urban.

Ed Simmons has now a couple of ideas on how he can plan his running sessions in preparation for the Mid-Week Road Race League. He has incorporated the session in the wider training plan and will be making use of the park, but also getting as many people involved in the session.

Trent Park appreciated the support England Athletics has provided and the session Urban has delivered on their behalf.

“Coach Urban was great and we really appreciated his coaching.”

Ed Simmons, Trent Park RC

For anyone living in the North London catchment area, Trent Park RC is a friendly running community catering for runners at all ability levels. Please visit their website  for more information.

Striders Team Manager Krzysztof Klidzia initiated an England Athletics Club Run visit with the aim of assisting the club supporting the marathon training programme.

By working in partnership Coach Urban Bettag, Team Manager Krzysztof Klidzia and the club committee agreed on the club priorities for developing the marathon programme. Three visits to the Striders club house at Sandilands have been agreed and covering a marathon seminar in December and two practical running sessions in January/February.

The marathon seminar was well attended and runners at all abilities had the opportunities to address and discuss their questions. A lot interest and questions regarding nutrition, marathon training and the long run were raised. Via the club’s FB group ongoing support has been provided with marathon training related questions on speedwork for marathon runners, recovery, fuelling, hydration, strength training, competing in the heat, tapering, etc.

The practical sessions were targeted at the improver group targeting a sub 4-hour marathon and a faster group targeting a sub 3h 45. An out & back long run with the aim of even pacing was conducted, followed up with a marathon-specific long run, which consisted of bouts of marathon pace running stimulating the athlete’s energy systems required for the marathon. Both runs were supported by run leaders from the club.

“It has been a valuable experience having Coach Urban along for the talk and runs, those attending will surely have learnt something from your relaxed style of explaining and it will make them think of different ways to improve their marathon performance.” – Krzysztof Klidzia

Fundamentally, awareness about the physiological requirements of the marathon, aerobic conditioning, pacing strategy and training priorities has been improved

The Striders of Croydon are committed tailoring their marathon training and technical advice to the club members’ needs and will continue to review and make improvements to the marathon training.

The aim of the Marathon Seminar Series was to offer practical training tips for members of the Mornington Chasers Running Club in preparation for their spring marathons. The talk was attended by first timers and experienced marathon runners, targeting the Brighton Marathon, Manchester Marathon, London Marathon and Berlin Marathon (autumn).

Coach Urban talked through the final three weeks of marathon preparation, shared his coaching experience of coaching marathon runners and shared latest research findings. During the 2 hours talk, Coach Urban covered tapering strategies, carbohydrate protocols, race day management, analysis of the Brighton Marathon route analysis to inform the pacing strategy.

“I wanted to say thank you very much for all your time and hard work in preparing and presenting the three sessions. I really enjoyed them and feel I learned from them. Now to put it in practice. I will do the Tralee marathon. It’s in Kerry, South West of Ireland. Rural roads and coastline.”, says avid Marathon runner Eamon Byrne.

“Thanks again for the insight, this has given me a few ideas regarding rehearsing carbo-loading before the long run”, says Brighton-bound John Mehrzad.

“From a coaching perspective, I always find these talks a useful learning opportunity. Relevant points have been raised, which I will research in more depth.”, says Coach Urban.

Attendees of the Marathon Seminars donated generously and raised a total of £550 for the Shoe4Africa Children’s Hospital in Eldoret, Kenya.

Many thanks!