On the road with Run England and runbritain

20 November 2012

Run England, which aims to get people active through running, and runbritain, which provides support for race organisers as well as runners wanting to take their racing to the next level, are currently touring the country, with Birmingham being the next stop.

Through the road shows, people have been finding out how the Run England and runbritain programmes help clubs and events through support for race organisers and runners and extending club involvement into the wider community to welcome new runners.

The first road show took place Thursday 8 November at Manchester’s Regional Sports Arena at Sportcity and had 19 attendees, with just under half of those present representing runbritain, slightly less than that representing Run England and the remaining attendees with an interest across both programmes.

Their experience and expertise varied; Alia Pike is a Run England Run Leader and is training to be a coach, Adrian Thiemicke is Chairman of the North West Regional Panel, a British Association of Road Running (BARR) Regional Representative and an Event Adjudicator.

Keith Binney is a Regional Panel member and Event Adjudicator in South Yorkshire, while Julie Fairclough is a personal fitness trainer and an endurance coach at Stockport Harriers and Bramhall Runners.

At this point you might be wondering what the difference is between Run England and runbritain? On a simple level, Run England is about increasing participation, it’s getting people off the sofa and out running, it’s the first steps. runbritain is getting more people running more and racing, and is a one-stop-destination for runners and race organisers.

Run England currently has 32,000 members and over 6,500 LiRF qualified leaders (Leadership in Running Fitness), with many of them actively leading more than 1,400 groups across the country. Run England also offers 3-2-1 permanently marked running routes, which are safe and well-lit.

So what did the audience think? From a runbritain point of view, they raised a number of other points regarding setting up races and race organisation which can be read here.

Is was also suggested that many of the registered Run England groups in Manchester could get together for a training run. One of the parks, perhaps with 3-2-1 set-up in place, is going to be used as a super-group run - and could even have a Santa theme - just before Christmas. The idea is a really great one for any town or city that has more than two Run England groups as a way of setting the scene for getting friends and family involved in running in the New Year, and it was definitely one of the most fun suggestions of the night.

The second of five runbritain and Run England Roadshows takes place in Birmingham tonight.

Find out how the runbritain and Run England programmes help clubs and events through support for race organisers and runners and extending club involvement into the wider community to welcome new runners.

The remaining dates are as follows, and all road shows are scheduled 7-9pm (full details, including venue addresses, are in the attached flyer).