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.’