Have your say
We contacted you in February and June to ask for your participation in an exciting piece of research that we are involved in with partners from the University of the West of Scotland and the University of Birmingham. We had a fantastic response, with around 700 completed surveys.
The research is designed to better understand the experiences you have as a RunTogether Runner or Leader. Gathering this evidence will help us understand how social running groups have performed and how successful social running groups can be expanded to enhance health and well-being. As part of this research, we invited you to take part in three surveys during 2018 (February, June & October). The October survey is now live, and we would love everyone to be involved, whether you completed this survey in February and/or June or not. This is an independent study and under no circumstances will your individual responses be shared with RunTogether staff, nor will responses be shared between Run Leaders and running group participants.
To access the survey, and to read more information about the research, click HERE
RunTogether sessions are open
We want to make it as easy to find a RunTogether run session as it is to find a hotel room, so we’ve been working with the Open Data Institute (ODI) to ensure that the opportunity to join a RunTogether session can be listed in a wide range of apps and services. Working openly with the ODI and other activity providers is an important step for us to make RunTogether as accessible as possible and easy for people from all backgrounds to join run sessions organised by RunTogether groups and get active.
Following the changes we have made, all runs that are created as ‘Public’ in the RunTogether admin site will now be included in our open data feed so that they can be included on other activity finders for people to find runs in their area. Users will be directed to the RunTogether website to book on to your runs as normal but by making your runs ‘Open’ you can help us to attract more people to get active through RunTogether. Please note: the open data will not include any personal contact details of the group leader, it is purely the run details.
If you do not want your runs to be included in the open data feed then simply follow the steps below:
Log in to RunTogether and go to the ‘Admin area’
Click on ‘Runs’ in the left-hand side menu
Click on the ‘Edit settings’ button
Un-tick the ‘Open Data’ check-box to remove your runs from the open data feed
Run Leader Qualifications and Roles
As we communicated in our previous newsletter, to ensure the quality of the RunTogether programme, all Group Leaders and Run Leaders must be at least LiRF qualified and hold a valid DBS certificate. To help us monitor this and maintain the quality of the RunTogether programme we now require the Unique Registration Number (URN, also referred to as licence number) of all Run Leaders to be entered on to all Run Leader profiles. Going forwards, any Run Leaders that do not have a valid URN added to their profile will be unable to lead runs. If you have forgotten your URN or having problems adding it to your Run Leader profile please contact us
To help Group Leaders administer your groups alongside the above changes, we have now added a new ‘Group Helper’ role to the ‘Leaders’ area within the admin site. We are aware that groups are often supported by volunteers who might not be qualified as Run Leaders and we want to make sure that you can still include these volunteers as part of your group. This role will not require a valid URN and will allow your helpers to access the admin pages for your group to help with adding runs, managing contacts and more.
To add a ‘Group Helper’ to your group please follow the steps below:
· Log in to RunTogether and go to the ‘Admin area’
· Click on ‘Leaders’ in the left-hand side menu
· Click on the ‘Add Leader’ button in the top right of the screen
· Enter the details of your new ‘Group Helper’ or click ‘Existing contact’ if the Group Helper you are adding is already a member of your group
· In the ‘Roles’ section tick the ‘Leader’ check-box and then select ‘Group Helper’ from the list of options
· Click ‘Submit’ to save the ‘Group Helper’ details and if they are new to your group an invite will automatically be sent to them to ask them to complete their registration on RunTogether.
If you have any problems adding a ‘Group Helper’ or managing roles within your group please contact us
#RunandTalk Week
From 6-12th October we hosted #RunAndTalk week, where we saw over 150 #RunAndTalk sessions take place. We were pleased to see so many of you helping to shake the stigma that surrounds mental health. Whilst hosting campaigns twice a year, our partnership with the mental health charity Mind helps us to provide expertise around mental health. Along with the partnership and campaign work, the Mental Health Champion are a network of volunteers in England Athletics affiliated clubs and RunTogether groups promoting mental wellbeing through running and supporting the aims of #RunAndTalk.
Why autumn is the perfect time to start training
Autumn is the perfect time of year to put away your stopwatch, switch off the GPS on your personal tracker and simply get running. Whether you’re just looking to keep ticking over or you have your eyes on a spring marathon, running at this time of year is great for training for every different sport.
Eilish McColgan, Britain’s best 5000m runner in recent seasons and winner of the bronze medal at the European Championships in Berlin, spoke to DW Fitness First to give us her thoughts.
RunTogether Volunteers Recognised at 2018 England Athletics Hall of Fame
Our congratulations to our 2018 National Volunteer Award winners who were presented and recognised at Hall of Fame and Volunteer Awards evening. Two of the awards were for The RunTogether Runner of The Year and The RunTogether Group Leader of The Year.
RunTogether Leader of the Year: Danielle Guy
Danielle Guy, whose group has grown immensely. The £1 charge she used to put on her runs was used to fund keen individuals through their Run Leader training. She now has a committee behind the group to support its development, and Danielle’s efforts to crowdfund and secure financial support mean she can now offer the sessions free to her runners. Danielle told us, "I’d like to thank all my other leaders who have given up their time to help the group expand – it really is a team effort."
RunTogether Group of the Year: Mind & Sole
Mind & Sole, who support runners from all backgrounds, specialising in supporting those who struggle with their mental health. Christine, the Run Leader, inspires her runners to overcome their struggles through her sessions, providing a safe platform for runners to open up, alongside getting fit. Christine Smith accepted the award on behalf of the group; "I’m absolutely overwhelmed. I’d like to thank my Run Leaders – especially Jayne Baker and Alison Cowens – for their help, and of course everybody who comes along."
GROUP OF THE MONTH: RunTogether Verwood Runners
We're pleased to announce the winners of October's Group Of The Month. Established for around 5 years, this group has over 600 members! Having successfully hosted their first C25K course in 2017, they have since provided three additional courses which have attracted many new members. Seven committed Run Leaders host the sessions on Tuesday's and Thursday's, which cater for all abilities. This group provides a friendly atmosphere with constant support for their runners. Most importantly having fun is at the core of what they do.
Nominate your group by emailing support@runtogether.co.uk
Jessie Pavelka to visit two RunTogether groups!
A huge congratulations to everyone for smashing their #SeptemberGoals. It was great to see so many of you taking part! We hope that you have all received your RunTogether medals by now.
We encourage you to share your success across our social channels and congratulate each other!
Congratulations to Hamstreet Runners (Hamstreet, Kent) and So Let's Go Running (Bexley) who will receive a medal presentation from Jessie.
RunTogether in numbers...
- 75,593 REGISTERED RUNNERS
- 662,622 RUN SESSIONS BOOKED
- 1,843 RUNTOGETHER GROUPS