Beginners
East London Runners welcomes beginners
The hardest part about starting as a beginner is turning up. We understand it can be a daunting experience, but our friendly beginner group is in place to give everyone the opportunity to run.
On Wednesday night there is a shorter route of approximately 2-3 miles which caters for all speeds and abilities. Over the weeks the group will work on their distance and speed together in an inclusive environment.
We do recommend that beginners do try and run a minimum of one other time apart from a Wednesday. There is local parkrun on a Saturday and our track session on a Monday (details below).
Contact Details
Please email info@eastlondonrunners.org.uk
Track Sessions - Monday at Ashton Playing Fields, Woodford Bridge, IG8
Ideal for Beginners - Monday evenings - see Track Section or What's On page of this website.
Meet at 6.30pm at Ashton Playing Fields, Woodford Bridge, Essex, IG8 8AA. Note that there is a cost of £4.10 (£1.60 concessions available for students and Over 35s) per person, payable directly to the venue. Annual season tickets are also available. See Vision website. It is the responsibility of each person attending to make payment and not the responsibility of the Club of East London Runners. Nearest tube Station is Woodford on the Central Line.
If you are new to running or would like to complement your other running/training with track work, then why not come along on a Monday evening and improve your running no end by doing something that no other single training session will better.
New to Running
Before you start.
If you feel out of shape, or you're recovering from injury or worried about an existing condition, see your GP before you start running.
If you have not been active for a while, you may want to build your fitness levels gently by walking before you move on to running.
Running Shoes.
Running requires very little equipment, but a good pair of running shoes that suit your foot type will reduce the risk of injury. There are many types of trainers on the market, so get advice from a specialist running retailer who will assess your foot and find the right shoe for you.The shoes as shock absorbers weaken over time, increasing your risk of injury. It is advisable to replace running shoes every 300/400 miles.
Starting out
To avoid injury and enjoy the experience, it is essential to ease yourself into running slowly and increase your pace and distance gradually over several outings. Start each run with a gentle warm-up of at least five minutes. This can include quick walking, marching on the spot, knee lifts, side stepping and climbing stairs. Start walking for an amount of time that feels comfortable (anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes). Once you can walk for 30 minutes easily, include some running intervals of one to two minutes into your walking at a speed that feels comfortable. As time goes on, make the running intervals longer, until you're running for 30 minutes continuously. Run with your arms and shoulders relaxed, and elbows bent.
Regular running for beginners means getting out at least twice a week. Your running will improve as your body adapts to the consistent training stimulus.
It is better to run twice a week, every week, than to run half a dozen times one week and then do no running for the next three weeks.
At East London Runners we would recommend that you initially attend our Wednesday Beginners Runs or Monday Evening Track Sessions.(See above) Also a good option for development are the Saturday morning parkruns (NOTE parkrun is not part of East London Runners but many of our members join in on their weekly runs which are FREE. Register with parkrun before attending). See below for fuller parkrun details.
At the track and parkrun you can build your distance and stamina up each week by initially walk/jogging and then develop into running. You can run with us for up to 3 sessions, plus the parkruns, to see if our Club is suitable for your needs and then decide if you wish to join us.
parkrun whilst not a part of East London Runners are highly recommended by us. parkruns are FREE, timed 5k runs organised by parkrun at 9am each Saturday at Wanstead Flats(Harrow Road side)This run is off-road. Also at Valentines Park, Ilford, this run is on tarmac, and across London and the UK and now abroad also! It would be a good way to run shorter distances with others in a good safe environment when starting out. Both local parkruns consist of 2 laps so there is the opportunity to start by just running one lap of approximately 1.5 miles with the full run being 3.1 miles. You do not have to be a fast runner or have any experience to join in. Register at www.parkrun.com